A fire started in the engine bay of Chris Merrien’s VW camper van on Saturday. (Picture by Jordan James, 0914070)

A VW camper van went up in flames when its engine caught fire on Saturday morning.

Chris Merrien, 32, was on his way home along Grandes Rocques Road when the accelerator pedal went on his 1973 van.

‘I saw smoke coming out the back,’ said the gardener.

‘It was on fire so I ran.’

Mr Merrien had owned the vehicle for only seven or eight months, he said. He was doing it up as a project. He was not injured.

‘I was just on my way to pick up my surfboard,’ he said. ‘Good job it wasn’t in there.

‘I’m just a bit gutted and a bit shocked really. It’s not what you expect on a Saturday morning.’

The Fire and Rescue Service was quickly on the scene to put out the fire. One appliance attended along with a police officer.

‘It’s been an electrical fault in the engine bay,’ said Fire and Rescue Service crew commander Milton Le Moignan.

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