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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
John Paul Clark & Sian Traynor

Young Scottish man has lucky escape after car bursts into flames on way to work

A Scottish man made a lucky escape from his car after the vehicle burst into flames while he was driving to work.

Emergency services raced to the scene of Liam Gold's car as the Vauxhall Astra was completely destroyed at the side of the road near Drumeldrie, Fife, on Thursday.

Making his way along the road, Liam shared the "terrifying" moment smoke began to fog up his windscreen, as he quickly looked for a place to pull in.

READ MORE - Edinburgh student tells how his mum took her own life 'with no warning'

Finding a safe spot, the 26-year-old jumped out of the car as flames began appearing through the dashboard, with the car engulfed just minutes later.

Only just filling the car with petrol, fire crews spent over 20 minutes battling with the flames, Liam told the Daily Record.

He said: "I'm embarrassed to say I was in tears. It was the shock, it was terrifying. The smoke was literally blowing up in front of my face."

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A video taken by Liam shows large flames ripping through the motor, with thick black smoke billowing into the air. Pictures of the aftermath also show the burnt out shell of the car, that was completely gutted in the blaze. The entire bonnet had also melted away.

The car was destroyed (Daily Record)

Liam had purchased the car from a private seller in January last year and frequently uses the vehicle to get to his job as a social care worker. There had been no major issues with the car since, with Liam claiming no warning lights appearing prior to the ordeal.

As well as losing some personal belongings in the car, Liam will be hit financially by the loss of his motor. The excess on his insurance policy is set at £1,100, but he estimates the value of the car at around only £1,700.

He added: "There were still a lot of belongings in the car. I had important paperwork in it and my wallet was in the door."

Liam now has to rely on his husband Douglas to get him to work.

"We only tied the knot a few weeks ago so to say money is a bit thin after the wedding is an understatement," he continued.

"If I have to end up using public transport I don't know what I'm going to do. It's a two and a half hour round trip and my shifts as a carer are already long enough."

Although unable to confirm the exact cause of the blaze, Liam says fire crews suspect the issue stems from an electrical fault.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 2.11pm on Thursday, September 29 to a report of a car alight in Drumeldrie, Fife.

"Operations Control mobilised one appliance to the scene and the crew extinguished the fire and made the area safe."

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