On-call firefighters were called to a quiet Fenland back road over the weekend after a car burst into flames while driving.

The crew were left tackling the accidental blaze for over an hour on Saturday, August 15 at around 11am on Benwick Road in Whittlesey.

The firefighters were paged to the incident from their homes and arrived to find the Volkswagen car already “well alight”.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “At 11.14am on Saturday, a crew from Whittlesey was called to a fire on Benwick Road in Whittlesey.

“Firefighters arrived to find a car well alight. Wearing breathing apparatus, they extinguished the fire using hose reels and returned to their station by 12.30pm.

“The cause of the fire was accidental.”

On-call firefighters are not based at a fire station. They carry a pager and respond to emergency incidents as and when they happen.

They receive an annual wage to reflect the time they commit to being available plus additional payments for attending incidents and drill nights.