A witness has told of his fear that a car would explode after it caught fire in the middle of a busy road.

Music teacher Umi Nowaz was walking along Bounds Green Road yesterday afternoon when he saw a car travelling at speed hit a traffic island at the junction with Truro Road.

The two occupants immediately fled the scene as oil began spilling out of the car and black smoke started to rise from the bonnet.

Mr Nowaz said: “All of a sudden there was big bang and there was oil and smoke everywhere. A few other people were there and we were all genuinely afraid it was going to blow up.

“As soon as we realised it was on fire everybody took a step back and I called the fire brigade. I was worried for my safety in case it exploded so I didn’t hang around after that.”

The London Fire Brigade were called at 1.31pm to reports of a car alight and one engine attended the incident bringing the fire under control quickly.

The police also attended but no arrests were made.