A DRIVER had a lucky escape after his car burst into smoke just metres away from a fire station.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon when the silver Vauxhall people carrier had an engine fire right in front of the Stratton Fire Station.

The landlord of the Rat Trap, Mark Richardson, saw the event unfold from the pub, and said that the driver could not have broken down in a better place.

The watch crew who were on duty on Sunday afternoon also saw that the car was in trouble and quickly came to the driver’s aid.

The crew swiftly put out the small fire using a hose reel jet to the relief of the stricken driver.

Mr Richardson said: “I saw the car had broken down and there was smoke coming from it – I thought that the radiator had gone.

“Then I saw the driver starting to scramble to get their golf clubs out of the boot, which seemed important to them, and that’s when I knew there was something wrong.

“One of the passengers casually walked over to the fire station and told them what was going on.

“They went back inside and came out with the fire engine to help extinguish the fire in the engine. You couldn’t have written it – there would be no better place to have a car fire than outside a fire station.”

A spokeswoman for the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said that the service prides itself on quick response times but even for them it would have been attended at record speed.

She said: “The call was put in by the fire crew who had seen the car out of the window. They saw a lot of smoke coming from the engine and responded straight away.

“One hose reel jet was used to extinguish the fire which is thought to have started due to an electrical problem.

“We are proud of our quick attendance to all calls but to be able to get to a fire in less than 45 seconds is probably a record.

“We are sure the car driver was pleased that they broke down in that place.”