A DISASTER was averted as flames from a deliberately torched car began to spread to overhead power lines.

The alarm was raised by an off-duty firefighter who spotted the blaze in Glebe Road, Tiptree, on Monday evening.

Information was given to the brigade’s control team who called Coggeshall’s fire crew to the scene shortly before 9.20pm.

Upon arrival, the firefighters found the car to be completely alight outside a property.

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Flames had also began to affect overhead power lines and a nearby hedgerow as they began to spread.

The crew managed to extinguish the blaze by 10pm and they remained at the site until shortly before 11pm to ensure it was safe.

A brigade spokesman said a crew from Tollesbury attended the scene shortly before 11.10pm to make sure the car was safe for a recovery vehicle to take it away.

The cause of the fire has been recorded as deliberate, with one eyewitness claiming a solo individual may have sparked the incident.

Essex Police has been contacted for comment.