A recently serviced work van erupted into flames at a petrol station, raising fears the fire could cause an explosion.

A video shows a Ford Transit ablaze next to the pumps at the Esso garage on Royal Engineers Road, Maidstone.

Father-of-two Simon Harris was in line to pay for diesel when an employee burst into the shop to say: “Your van’s on fire!”

“I love my van, it’s really precious to me,” said Mr Harris, 42.

“Luckily it wasn’t my van, it was another van of the same model.

“The guys there didn’t know what to do and it was apparent that the fire was getting worse.

“I shouted: ‘Get the fire extinguishers out’ and then I started spraying the flames that were coming out of the bonnet.”

Not enough fire extinguishers were immediately on hand so Mr Harris called the fire department who told him to find the emergency fuel valves.

But the petrol station staff did not know where the valves were.

After locating the valves at the side of the building and shutting them off, Mr Harris told everyone to get out.

“It felt like a scene out of Casualty, I was half expecting the whole petrol station to go up in a fireball,” added Mr Harris, a project manager at an electrical company.

“The flames were hitting the roof, I didn’t know how much bigger the fire was going to get.”

Talking to the van’s owner, Mr Harris from Maidstone learned that the vehicle belonged to the man’s boss and had just been serviced and had a new engine fitted the week before.

“The petrol station attendant was nagging me to go back inside to pay for my £60 worth of diesel, but I told him, I’m not going back in there - this place could explode at any moment.

"Once I knew that fire engines were on the way, I left - I was already late for work."

A spokesperson for Kent Fire and Rescue said: "Firefighters responded to a call at a petrol station in Chatham Road, Maidstone, where a van was alight.

"Crews isolated the fuel pumps and used battery-powered hydraulic rescue equipment to open the doors on the van to gain access for firefighting.

"A firefighter wearing breathing apparatus put out the fire using a high-pressure hose reel jet.

"The heat affected a fuel pump and the roof of the forecourt.

"There are no reports of injuries and the cause of the fire has not been established."