'I had an angel watching me': Dad-of-three escapes car blaze on way to work in Northampton

The fire service rushed to Northampton's Bedford Road on Tuesday morning (January 21) after reports of a blazing car, which belonged to St Andrews healthcare assistant, Jermaine Charles.

Jermaine, of Weston Favell, managed to steer the Ford S-MAX to safety during rush hour traffic after he first smelt smoke at Barnes Meadow Interchange.

He parked up in Workbridge car park after claiming that sparks started to appear from an interior light inside his car.

While the car was parked off the main carriageway at about 7.25am he watched his car catch fire and turn into a shell of what it once used to be.

He said he was asked to swap his shift at the hospital only the night before, which meant his children were not in the car for the school run.

"I was not supposed to be working that day," Jermaine said. "But my shift was swapped the night before at last minute.

"If it had not, I would have been driving my kids to school. It's a blessing, I believe God protected me and had an angel on me. It could have been so much different.

"I could not open the passenger door to get my phone out, I had to smash the window. My kids could have been locked in there, that's what is scaring me."

Northamptonshire Police confirmed the fire was caused by a vehicle defect and nobody was hurt.

"I'm still in shock. I could not sleep properly last night," he added.

"I had to get a new car on finance, which is going to have a big effect on me financially."