Chinese lantern blaze destroys car

A car was destroyed in a blaze which started when a Chinese lantern landed on its bonnet.

The Vauxhall Corsa was parked outside the home of owners Jackie Tetley and David Hickenbottom in Swanfield Road, Wordsley, when the stray lantern landed on it, causing a fire which spread to the inside of the car.

The couple described how they were alerted to the blaze by a neighbour and when they looked outside saw flames 2ft tall.

It was the first of two fires, suspected to have been caused by Chinese lanterns, attended by firefighters in the Dudley borough last night.

The other, on the Gibbons Road Industrial Estate in Brierley Hill, damaged a tree.