A 67-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire ripped through a car park used by Gatwick passengers, turning roughly 140 vehicles into modern art installations (by which we mean heaps of molten metal). The blaze erupted at Caldyne business park near Crawley, about eight miles from the airport, just after 9pm on Saturday. Witnesses reported enormous plumes of smoke rising close to overhead power lines, which is generally not what you want to see when you're heading off on holiday.

Aside from the obvious misery of returning from a lovely summer getaway to find your car has become a crispy sculpture, the fire also cut power to over 2,000 businesses and homes. Because why should the fun stop at the car park? Emergency services called it a 'significant and complex' operation, deploying eight fire engines and water carriers to tame the blaze. UK Power Networks had to isolate an overhead power cable while crews worked below, because nothing says 'summer holiday' like a coordinated electrical shutdown.

West Sussex fire and rescue service confirmed that approximately 140 vehicles were damaged, many of which were parked at a site used for holiday parking. Affected consumers are advised to contact their parking operator directly, presumably to hear the soothing words, 'Sorry, your car is now a pile of ash.' The fire also wreaked havoc on two breakdown and recovery businesses and a banger racing team. The Bears banger racing team launched a fundraiser, noting they had lost everything - which, in the world of banger racing, is both a metaphor and a literal inventory.

Autocovery and K&L Automotive, two of the affected businesses, had previously donated abandoned vehicles to fire stations across West Sussex for training purposes. So at least the fire service had some practice with burning cars, albeit not on this scale. Sussex police said the arrested man has been bailed pending further inquiries. Power was shut off to the immediate area, affecting businesses and homes, and nearby roads were closed as a precaution. The public is advised to avoid the area, which seems like solid advice given the smoke, chaos, and general vehicular apocalypse.

London Gatwick, ever the diplomatic host, clarified that the car park is an 'unaffiliated third-party' operation, not endorsed or operated by the airport. They advise concerned passengers to contact their parking operator directly - though we suspect that conversation will go about as well as asking a cat to apologize after knocking a glass off a table. Police are asking anyone with information to report it online or call 101, quoting serial number 1504. Because apparently, someone out there knows why a 67-year-old decided to incinerate a bunch of cars and ruin countless vacations.