Shopper drives burning car to safety in Tesco car park moments before it bursts into flames

Watch: Shopper's car goes up in flames at Tesco car park

This is the shocking moment a car went up in flames at a Tesco car park – shortly after its owner quickly drove it away to safety.

Local shoppers were stunned after the car belonging to Chris Macey, 31, was seen bursting into flames at the supermarket in Plymouth, Devon, at around 4pm on Saturday.

The quick-thinking driver sprang into action when he spotted black smoke coming from the dashboard.

Realising his Ford Focus was at risk of bursting into flames, Macey immediately hopped back into the smoking vehicle to drive it to an empty corner of the car park.

He said: "I was right by the Tesco entrance and there were lots of other cars around me – I just instinctively knew I had to get it out the way."

Just seconds after he jumped back out of the car, the entire vehicle burst into flames – and Macey stood nearby and phoned the fire brigade as other shoppers gathered around in confusion.

The firefighters extinguished the fire, which Macey said they suspected was caused by an electrical fault – but it left behind little more than a metal shell.

He added: "I've got some relatively minor burns to the face and one of my eyebrows was burnt off, but otherwise I got away relatively unscathed.

"But I'm still in shock from it all, and it makes me shaky to think about.

"I've been given a replacement car but I haven't driven much since Saturday because the experience was so traumatic.

"Looking back, I just feel lucky that I could move the car out the way, and that the fire brigade came quickly so nobody else was in danger."

Katrin Ruth Cummins, 29, who filmed the video of the burning car, said: “At first we thought one of the shops was on fire but we quickly realised it was a car and it was completely alight.

"Everyone in the car park was trying to see what was going on.

"It's not something you see every day."

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