A mum and her three children have been left traumatised after her new electric car exploded in a fireball outside their home while they slept.
The mum said she was woken by a ‘massive bang’ in the middle of the night and rushed to escape from her home with her three children and her dog before the fire spread.
She claims her 2024 Peugeot was not charging when it suddenly burst into flames on the family’s driveway on Henley Close in Worcester.
Firefighters dashed to the scene shortly after midnight on Wednesday and spent more than an hour tackling the blaze.
The car was destroyed in the blaze and the explosion caused damage to a wall, leaving a pile of rubble and a mark in the ground from the impact.
The front of the car has been left in pieces, the tyres were destroyed and the inside furnishings have been turned black.
The woman, who does not want to be named, had purchased the car less than a year ago.
She said: ‘I was asleep, all the kids were asleep and I just heard a massive bang.
‘At first I thought the television had fallen off the wall but when I looked outside I saw the reflection of the flames in our neighbour’s windows.
‘I was in shock.
‘I’m traumatised, the kids are traumatised. I grabbed my three children and the dog and rushed out of the house as quickly as I could.
‘It was an electric Peugeot with a 24 reg that I bought in May, the fire was that bad that you can’t even tell anymore.
‘It now looks like an old racing car that has been abandoned.’
The mum said the car had not been used since 7pm on January 28 – around five hours before the explosion.
A Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: ‘At 12.30am on January 29 we were called to reports of a vehicle fire at an address in Henley Close, Worcester.
‘Four crews, two from Worcester, one from Droitwich and one from Malvern were sent to the scene.
‘Four crews went due to the large number of phone calls we had received from the public to make sure the fire did not spread from the driveway to the property.
‘Firefighters extinguished the fire.
‘There are no casualties to report and crews left the scene at 1.44am.’
A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: ‘Officers were called to a property on Henley Close in Worcester just after 12.30am on Thursday January 29, following a report of a vehicle fire.
‘No injuries were reported, and the fire is not being treated arson.’
Peugeot has been contacted for comment.