FOUR people escaped from a burning car just minutes before it exploded into a fireball.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen more than 10 miles away as the drama unfolded in a Boscombe side street.

The Mazda 6, just a year old and worth around £15,000, was destroyed in the blaze, which started spontaneously in a battery charger in the boot.

The heat was so intense that windows cracked in a nearby flat as did the windscreen of a van parked behind the Mazda.

Fire chiefs said the occupants were lucky to have escaped unhurt and stressed the fire was accidental.

Car owner Jamie Derrick and his three passengers were on their way to Urban Reef for lunch just after midday yesterday (Sun)when they smelt smoke.

Passenger and friend Scott Patterson said: "We thought the smell of smoke was coming from outside at first, then we realised it was within the car."

He said they parked the vehicle in Aylesbury Road, near its junction with The Crescent, and got out.

"We looked in the boot and saw flames so we just moved away from the car and told other people to keep out of the way because we realised it was a major fire.

"A couple of minutes later there were two explosions and it just went up - we were very lucky to have got out when we did."

He said residents of a nearby block of flats came out to see what was going on and had to run away from the acrid smoke.

Watch manager Darren Lowe of Dorset Fire and Rescue described the incident as "very unusual" and described how the charger "combusted" in the boot.

One fire crew from Springbourne attended and dealt with the fire, which also damaged a fence around the flats.

Mr Lowe added: "While we were there we carried out fire safety checks in the flats and fitted smoke alarms because there weren't any."