Swansea man 'terrified' after Vauxhall Zafira catches fire

A man from Swansea has described the "terrifying" moment he became locked in his Vauxhall Zafira after the car caught fire.

Jason Williams was driving on a dual carriageway with his three-year-old daughter when he smelled burning.

He said he only escaped after breaking a window as the electrics had burned, causing the central locking to lock.

Vauxhall said it is investigating the problem, as hundreds of owners reported overheating problems.

Mr Williams spoke to BBC Watchdog, which has been carrying out investigations following reports of heating and ventilation system fires in a number of Vauxhall Zafira B models.

The fire broke out in Mr Williams's car as he drove to his parents' house on 17 October.

"I pulled up... and took the seat belts off my daughter and tried to get her out. The doors were basically locked and I couldn't get her out at all. I was punching at the glass to try and break the window," he said.

"I had hold of my daughter's hand because at one point the smoke was quite thick in the car.

"There's a release button on the dashboard which opens the central locking. Obviously because of the fire, electrics burning, it wasn't working…terrifying, really petrifying."

The programme has also discovered that some customers are facing long delays in getting appointments to have their cars inspected.

Watchdog has posed as customers and called 10 Vauxhall dealers to find out how long the wait was.

Four could not give a date, five quoted between one and two weeks and only one had appointments available this week.

A Vauxhall spokesman said the company was working on an "early conclusion and fix" and plans were being made to rework or recall the cars "as appropriate".

"Inspections of components by the engineers are proceeding apace across the country to enrich our understanding and enable a clear definition of the problem and fix," he added.

"Mr Williams's car will be inspected shortly, with the cooperation of his insurance company."

• Watchdog, BBC One, 19:30 GMT on Thursday