A man had a lucky escape when a passersby warned him of a fire starting in the bottom of his broken-down car.

The Mercedes had broken down on Bad Munstereifel Road, in Ashford, around 5.45pm yesterday but the driver escaped just moments before the car burst into flames.

Two fire engines, police and ambulance were called to the scene.

Firefighters used compressed air foam and spent around 45 minutes tackling the blaze.

Watch Manager Jim Smart said: "The car had broken down and basically some passersby saw it was alight underneath. So he warned the driver who quickly got out and then it just burst into flames."

Paramedics attended the incident but luckily the driver was not injured.

Firefighters believe the blaze probably started due to a fault with the engine.

Drivers experienced slight delays as the road was shut for around 20 minutes.