TRAFFIC backed up for miles on the A338 heading into Bournemouth on Wednesday afternoon because of a car fire.

The emergency services were called at around 1.15pm to the stretch between Blackwater Junction and the Cooper Dean roundabout.

Dorset Police said that a silver Volkswagen car, registered to a man from London, had caught light, but all of those inside had got out of the vehicle.

Traffic was stopped completely for a time and tailed back to Ashley Heath.

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service said that it sent two appliances to the scene and the car was “fully involved in fire”. It was left destroyed.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used hoses and foam to put out the flames.

The fire was out by around 1.45pm and one lane was reopened to get traffic moving again and shortly afterwards, at about 2pm, the emergency services left the scene and both lanes were reopened, although it took some time for traffic to return to normal.

Recovery was arranged for the gutted car.

Kim Leachman, who lives at Holdenhurst Village, saw the drama from his home.

He said: “There was a lot of smoke and big flames.

“There were lots of bangs and explosions going on – it must have been the tyres going.”

Footage from Naomi Estall 

Nathan Aldous was travelling into Bournemouth and was just behind the incident.

Nathan, who got stuck for 40 minutes while the scene was cleared, said: “We got caught in the traffic jams.

“We weren’t too far back and another minute earlier we would have missed it.

“I saw the smoke as we passed the Christchurch turn-off.

“I thought we were going to be there for a few hours, but they looked like they dragged the car off the road and got people past quickly, so I was quite impressed.”

South Western Ambulance Service confirmed that it was not called to the scene.