Six-foot Christmas star falls from lamppost at the Fort Shopping Centre in Erdington

Nov 23 2009 by Sophie Cross, Birmingham Mail

SHOPPERS narrowly escaped injury when a six-feet tall Christmas star fell from a lamppost on to a car in an Erdington shopping centre.

Passers-by were terrified to see the large light fixture drop from several metres’ height directly onto the car parked by a footpath at the Fort Shopping Centre last Thursday.

The star went through the windscreen of a red Vauxhall Corsa, which was empty at the time. It had been fixed on to a lamppost near music store HMV using cable ties.

Shopper Colin Slater, 30, from Chelmsley Wood, was with his brother when they witnessed the incident at about 7.15pm.

He said: “A piece of metal went straight through the windscreen of this red car. There were a number of witnesses – we were saying it’s lucky no-one was in there at the time.”

Mr Slater said he remained at the scene for a time afterwards as staff tried to locate the vehicle’s owner.

Bosses at the shopping centre blamed the incident on windy weather and said the contractors responsible for the Christmas lights – Tamworth-based Mighty Engineering – were reviewing the fittings used.