Robots cause fire which disrupts Ocado orders

Ocado has apologised to customers as orders were cancelled following a fire at its warehouse caused by robots.

The blaze started on Friday in Erith, south-east London, when three of the supermarket giant’s fleet of “bots” collided, with 100 firefighters taking 14 hours to put the “deep-seated” fire out.

Hundreds of staff were evacuated but no one was injured. A spokesman said that aside from some “residual smoke smell” most of the warehouse remained in “good condition” and they expected to begin operating again within the coming week.

Robots were also blamed for a previous fire in 2019 that destroyed Ocado’s warehouse in Andover, Hants.