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A BOLLINGTON businessman narrowly escaped serious injury when his sports car exploded into flames at Macclesfield Train Station on Sunday morning (September 21).

David Whittaker, 67, of Stone Mill Court, stepped out of his Alfa Romeo Spider just five minutes before it became a fireball.

He was on his way into town to pick up some train tickets when he noticed black smoke coming from the bonnet.

He jumped out to get help, and within ten minutes his convertible was completely ablaze.

Mr Whittaker, who works for destination management company Gateway UK, in Bollington, said: "I drove up the ramp into the (station) car park. Smoke was coming out of the bonnet.

"I parked, and when I walked round to try to open the front, I realised there were flames as well. I thought the whole lot might go up and went into the station and told them to call the fire service."

Red Watch fire crew rushed to the Macclesfield Train Station car park at 11am on Sunday, and battled the burning vehicle for 30 minutes before bringing the flames under control, a spokesman for Cheshire Fire Service confirmed. The car park was closed while the crew battled the fire, but trains were not affected.

Mr Whittaker said: "It was only five minutes between me noticing it initially, and the flames starting. Within ten minutes the whole lot had gone up.

"If the petrol tank had blown, it could have been a real mess.

"It’s a good job I wasn’t on the motorway when it happened. That could have been a very different proposition. Luckily, no one was injured."

A spokesman for Virgin Trains, who operate Macclesfield Train Station, said: "One of the Virgin Train staff did ring the fire service and both the station and the car park were evacuated for safety.

"The station was reopened after a few minutes, and obviously the car park had to be kept shut a little longer while the car was being dealt with. No train services were disrupted."