A WOMAN had a very lucky escape after her car burst into flames just moments after she got out.

Marion Brocklebank, 62, could scarcely believe what she was seeing after fire engulfed her car just after she parked up.

Thankfully, no-one was injured in the fire in Kitkatt Road, Canvey.

It happened at about 2pm Friday and an electrical fault has been blamed.

A relieved Marion told the Echo: “I had only parked up, and popped into the house to collect a bag.

“Suddenly I heard someone shouting that a car was on fire, I had literally walked up the driveway and into the house and it went up.

“There were a few people gathered outside, and I was just telling everyone to get back, I had a full tank of petrol so I was quite scared.

“The flames looked like they started under the gear stick, but within a minute the whole car was on fire, and the road was full of black thick smoke. Apparently you could see the smoke from the other side of the island.

“I think we were just so lucky we were not in the car, if we had stayed in for a minute longer then I don’t know what would have happened.

“If there had been a child in a car seat in the back, it isn’t worth thinking about, but you would have struggled to get them out.”

And the resident heaped praise on the fire brigade, not only for their speedy response, but also for recovering the registration plate, which had been dedicated to her late son.

Marion added: “The moment they were called, they were here within two minutes.

“Immediately they had it completely under control, they were so efficient, it was brilliant. People are always quick to criticise but they were brilliant. They even went back to get my personalised number plate, which was dedicated to my son who is sadly no longer with us.

“It was such a lovely thing to do, I was so upset that I thought I might lose it, then a firefighter came over carrying it. They did not have to do it, they had done their job by putting it out, they did not need to go above and beyond.”