Dramatic video footage of burning car on A35 near Burley

Dramatic footage of a burning car off the A35 was taken by Highcliffe resident Harry Madgwick who described the scene as “terrifying”.

Harry had been on his way home last night (Tuesday) with his dad who was driving when they came to a standstill.

He said: “It all happened so fast, we were driving down the A35 back to Highcliffe heading home and only happened to be on this road because there had been a crash earlier in the day that caused the original route to be closed.”

He said as they slowed down they spotted the car: “After two minutes of being on the road we saw one car with its hazards on but nothing else. All the other cars were just driving on.”

Harry said as they got nearer they could see smoke, and then it was suddenly on fire.

He said: “We saw all this smoke and then suddenly a massive fire. I told my father to pull over and quickly dialled 999.

“I asked for fire and quickly found the what3words location as I had no idea where we were on the A35.

“My father and I then got out of the van and watched. The vehicle kept exploding so we didn’t approach.

“Another bystander was shouting out for anyone in the vehicle but from what we saw it looked like the car had been parked and then just set alight.”

Together with his dad, Harry then tried to warn approaching traffic about the danger.

He said: “We put on high visibility jackets we had in the van and got some flashing red light sticks, and my father was warning vehicles coming from behind our van to slow down and move over to the opposite lane to ensure they were far away from it and I was in front of the van warning drivers to slow down.”

Harry said the fire brigade arrived quickly: “After quite a few minutes of them putting it out most of the flames had gone and it was mostly smouldering but they continued to douse it in water for a while.

“Me and my father then left the scene and went back home. It was terrifying and I was shaking with adrenaline, hopefully anyone involved is okay, and I’m glad we were there to assist.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire Fire and Rescue service said: “At 5.58pm a crew from Burley were called to a small vehicle fire in a layby on the A35, Burley.

“No one was injured. The car was 100% damaged by fire. The stop message came in at 6.44pm.”