A Monifieth man says he is still looking for answers over what caused his car to go up in flames while heading on a family holiday to Blackpool.
Andrew Hutcheson was travelling south with his partner and four young children during the summer break when the vehicle caught fire on the motorway.
The family escaped unhurt – but the Volkswagen Touran was left a burnt-out wreck.
Andrew, 59, says the vehicle had been in for repairs at a garage just the day before the trip.
However, the firm that carried out the work insists there is nothing to suggest the blaze was connected – and says it is up to insurers to establish the cause.
An investigation into why the blaze started has so far proven inconclusive.
Andrew said: “As soon as we got to Lockerbie, I knew something was wrong.
“I put my foot on the accelerator and there was a bang, which I felt had come from underneath the car – I thought it could’ve been the exhaust.
“I looked out the rear view mirror to see there was smoke coming out of the back of car.”
Kids ‘scared car will go on fire again’
He managed to drive on to the hard shoulder, and along with partner Lianne, got the four children out of the vehicle.
Andrew said: “As soon as I stopped, flames started to come out of the bonnet and I knew right away that I was in trouble because the smoke was getting thicker and thicker.
“By that point, more of less the whole front of the car was up in flames and smoke.
“I went back to get as much as I could out of the car before the whole thing went up in flames. I managed to get the buggy out and some of the kids’ bags.
“We were really shocked. There have certainly been some after effects too.
“There have been quite a few sleepless nights for the kids and it’s not been easy.
“After it happened, one of Lianne’s aunties wanted to take the kids out to the cinema.
“But the kids didn’t want to take the car – they wanted to take the train or the bus because they were scared the car was going to go on fire.”
Garage owner says ‘nobody foresaw’ fire
The car had been at John McGregor Broty in Barnhill to get repaired after breaking down on another trip south just days before.
Andrew paid £700 to get it back on the road so that his family could still go on holiday.
He added: “We’re now out £700 for the car – which is a big deal for us.”
Garage owner John told The Courier: “Andrew has been great customer over the years and I am deeply sorry for what happened.
“But nobody foresaw this, otherwise we wouldn’t have put the vehicle back on the road.
“The car had an existing fault from the fortnight before. Andrew was made aware that there was still a slight leak following the repair and this is written on his invoice.
“We explained that this would require thousands of pounds’ worth of further repairs, which was not what Andrew wanted to do.
Insurance probe proves inconclusive
“Andrew wanted to get back on the road as soon as possible and we wanted to help him do that. However, obviously no one thought the car would catch fire.
“We don’t know exactly what happened or whether this was even connected to the garage, but the fault already existed beforehand.
“I’m not against giving Andrew his money back, but the insurance companies have to resolve it.”
Tesco Insurance has confirmed it was unable to determine the exact cause of the fire after an investigation, due to the level of damage caused.