A TAXI caught fire in Modbury on Monday afternoon, only a stones throw away from the fire station.

The taxi, delivering children home to the town, was not local, but from a firm in West Devon.

The vehicle’s engine caught fire, and an off-duty police officer alerted the driver to the flames emanating from under the bonnet.

Fortunately the driver and the children managed to escape the vehicle before the fire took hold.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service received multiple calls to the fire near Oakwood Drive, at about 5pm on Monday, September 19.

The incident commander confirmed that one vehicle was alight on the road, with ‘fir trees also becoming involved’ and a telephone damaged by the flames.

Modbury’s local fire crew were on the scene within five minutes, and managed to extinguish the fire using two breathing apparatuses, one compressed air foam jet, but the car was destroyed.

Dark Lane was closed from the junction of Oakwood Drive, to the junction with Barrack Road for a couple of hours.

Pete Watts, watch manager at Modbury Fire Station said: ‘As a retained on-call station, we’d like to highlight that we are looking for new recruits, and will be holding a MacMillan coffee morning on Saturday, October 1, from 9.30am until 12.30pm.

‘There will be coffee, cake, activities for kids along with further information about joining the crew at Modbury Fire Station.’

Further information can be found online at www.dsfire.gov.uk.