Terrifying moment father's new £29,000 Ford Ranger pick-up truck explodes into huge fireball after catching fire without warning on busy motorway

This is the shocking moment a father's new Ford Ranger pick-up truck exploded into a huge fireball on a busy motorway.

Daniel Adkins, 40, was driving his step-father and younger brother to work in Worcestershire in the £29,000 motor when it suddenly spluttered into 'limp home mode'.

He managed to manoeuvre onto the hard shoulder before all three men leapt out the truck seconds before it was engulfed in flames.

Dramatic photos and footage shows the vehicle fully ablaze with fire and smoke billowing across three-lanes of the packed motorway.

The father-of-one, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, said: 'It was a 50mph limit and the motorway was busy when it suddenly felt like I had mechanical failure.

'It seemed to lurch into limp home mode and I noticed smoke coming from the bonnet.

'I managed to pull across two lanes and onto the hard shoulder when we noticed the flames.

'We all jumped out and ran up the hard shoulder and then it just went bang and exploded.

'I've never know anything like it. The heat from the flames was really intense. If we'd been inside much longer we'd have struggled to get out when we did.'

The electrical engineer was on his way to work at the Heineken factory in Hereford at 4am last Friday when it exploded.

Luckily, Mr Adkins and his step-father Alfred, 68, and brother George, 18, all escaped injury.

Mr Adkins, who runs his own electrical contracting business, paid £29,000 for the 2021 registered Ford on September 10.

He added: 'It only had 29,000 miles on the clock and was still under warranty when it exploded.

'It just went up in no time and it started banging. You do not ever think it would happen to you - it was really surreal. After the state of shock, it is hard to take in.

'Then it kicked in at 4am the other morning and I noticed how different it could have been.'

Two lanes at junction six near Worcester were closed for hours while firefighters tackled the intense blaze.

Mr Adkins said Spa Motors Hereford, who sold him the car, told him to go through his insurance instead.

Mr Adkins, who is married to wife Kelly, 40, said: 'It was not my doing, and cars don't just set on fire, so it must have been a mechanical issue.

'The insurance company are sending out an investigator to assess the car and find out what caused the fire.'

A spokesperson for Spa Motors Hereford said: 'We are currently corresponding with the customer in regards to the matter. We have no further comment to make.'

A Ford spokesperson said: 'The reasons for this incident would need to be investigated by the insurance company in the first instance.

'Ford is willing to support on third party investigations.'