Couple dodge death as car bursts into flames outside busy Portsmouth business park

Jose Moderno and his 31-year-old girlfriend, Anna Nunes had been driving in their Seat Leon in Western Road, North Harbour, Portsmouth, when they heard an ominous noise coming from the car’s engine.

Worried, the pair.pulled into the Lakeside business complex to investigate but within seconds were forced to flee as flames engulfed their motor.

Speaking to The News as his car burned in the background, a horrified Jose, 37, said: ‘I could hear this noise coming from my engine so I drove off the main road into here.

‘I stopped to try and see what it was and a taxi driver stopped and said “your car is on fire mate, get out, get out!”.

‘It came from nowhere. In five minutes my car was in flames. It was quite scary. It was so dangerous.’

Firefighters from Cosham were at the scene within minutes, arriving at about 1.40pm, and rapidly extinguished the blaze.

But the fire had ravaged the 16-year-old five-door hatchback, leaving it gutted.

Jose added he was devastated by the loss, having recently forked out hundreds of pounds for four new tyres.

‘The car is a total loss,’ he said. ‘It’s really bad. We were looking to buy another car but we decided to wait and save a bit more to get another one.

‘Two weeks ago I bought four brand new tyres for the car and now this has happened.’

Staff from Lakeside stopped traffic from entering or leaving the site as fire crews dealt with the incident.

Jose praised the firefighters for their efforts in putting out the blaze.

He added: ‘The firefighters were here so quickly. They did an amazing job.’

Firefighters are still on site making the scene safe.

Last month, a couple had a miraculous escape in the centre of Portsmouth after their car burst into flames.

The incident took place at the junction of Alfred Road, Queen Street and Anglesea Road, near Portsmouth Naval Base, in Portsea.