Vauxhall recalls spontaneously combustible Zafiras

Thousands of Vauxhall Zafiras could be recalled as the firm investigated reports that over 130 had exploded spontaneously.

The car maker is mulling a recall of models made between 2005 and 2014 as it sought to find the "root cause" of the problem, which it said was related to the heating and ventilation system.

It pledged to investigate "as a matter of urgency" the issue, behind the glovebox, that was said to cause the dashboard to heat up and the car to burst into flames.

Vauxhall first came to know of the problem in the summer, with 20 cases of fire reported. However, following a Facebook campaign led by three mothers whose Zafiras caught fire while children were inside, it was made aware of reports from over 130 motorists.

Vauxhall had identified potential problems with the heating fan, pollen filter and resistor in cars that had had ealier repairs "performed improperly or using certain non-genuine parts".

It was offering vehicle inspections for any Zafira B owners worried about any unusual characteristics with the heating and ventilation system, including squeaking noise from behind the dashboard.

However, The Telegraph reported a spokesman saying, the company was not ruling out a recall of the model once it had identified the "root cause".

According to Denis Chick, Vauxhall's director of communications, around 225,000 of these were sold in the UK, though, the firm had "no idea" how many were at risk until further inquiries were made.

He said "there will be a recall when we get a root cause" and until then concerned owners are advised to book an appointment with their local Vauxhall dealer for a free inspection, messengernewspapers.co.uk reported.

Chick said, "In some cases there's no advanced warning (of the fire).

"Smoke comes through the dashboard vents and within a few minutes the car's on fire.

"People fortunately have got time to pull over, stop and get out of the vehicle.

"We haven't had any cases yet of an accident or injury - to our knowledge - as a result of all of this but, yes, of course it's serious."