A car caught fire just metres from the pumps at a petrol station on a busy main road.

The incident happened outside the Esso service station in Wincheap, Canterbury after a driver pulled over with a mechanical issue.

Both the motorist and a worker from the petrol station managed to push the car away from the forecourt when it became clear the fault with the vehicle was producing smoke.

“One car came in to my forecourt, and it was having a small smoke,” the manager of the petrol station said.

“Then my colleague went out and told him to pull the car outside of the forecourt. Then the car caught fire from there, it all happened in 15 minutes.

“He opened the bonnet and he understood there was a mechanical issue as it was giving smoke. The smoke starting increasing, and my colleague has told him to push the car outside of the forecourt and he helped him to push the car outside.”

A video taken at the scene and circulated online showed the black vehicle well ablaze close to the forecourt.

Another clip then shows firefighters attending to the blaze and taping off the charred car after extinguishing the flames.

Fire crews confirmed their attendance shortly after 1pm.

One fire engine attended and crews, wearing breathing apparatus, used hose reel jets and foam to extinguish the flames.

There were no reported injuries and the cause is believed to be accidental and due to an engine fault.

Police also attended the scene, and the petrol station has since been able to reopen to customers.