Obviously an electrical fault in the appliance - if it just trips the breaker for the sockets then a short between live and neutral causing overcurrent and if it trips sockets and lights then a short to earth.
The cause could be several things - you may be able to make a guess about the probable cause by observing at which point in the machine's cycle that the trip happens.
Water comes in (water inlet solenoid)
Circulating pump splashes water about (pump)
Element heats the water (heating element)
Detergent flap opens (detergent solenoid)
Drain pump empties machine (drain pump)
All these are guesses - I have no particular expertise - but I would lay money on it being the heating element.
Good luck...
Peccavi
September 2009