EMERGENCY services raced to a Clacks village on Monday night after a car burst into flames in the middle of a busy street.

Coalsnaughton Main Street was turned into a “nightmare” amid panic that the car could explode at any minute according to an eyewitness.

William Marlin, who works and lives in the village, told the Advertiser of the moment that the quiet street descended into a brief state of chaos.

He said: “The lady [who owns the car] went into the post office, then her friend ran in behind her to tell her that her car was smoking. Next thing we knew it burst into flames.

“My dad ran over with a fire extinguisher from our office then I ran over because it was my dad and I wanted to make sure he was okay. The fire service turned up in two minutes, so kudos to them.”

The blaze also caused a bit of havoc for motorists as traffic was unable to pass from either direction.

He continued: “It really was a nightmare because it blocked the road and you don’t get a lot of traffic jams in Coalsnaughton.

"I think some people were also a bit worried that the car could blow up at any point."

William added that the woman whose car it was acted swiftly despite being visibly distressed as she watched her vehicle sitting ablaze.

He said: “She was quite upset. She did not seem to have a clue what had happened.

"She phoned the fire service straightaway then got on to the phone to her insurance.

"The car got taken away really quickly too – everything seemed to happen really fast.”