A young driver says he was nearly killed after his sports car burst into flames just an hour after picking it up from the garage following a full service.
Businessman Lak Sira was driving his prized £125,000 Lamborghini Gallardo along the M6 with his girlfriend when it caught fire.
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The 22-year-old had just spent £10,000 on a full service on his treasured possession and was heading down to London for a night out when they began to smell petrol - which they were assured by staff at the garage, was normal.
However, minutes later the couple were forced to jump out of the gold sports car after hearing a loud bang and spotted flames coming from the back - they had no choice but to watch on as the blaze engulfed the flash motor.
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Lak - who earns £200,000 a year - has released shocking pictures which show the smouldered wreckage of his 'pride and joy' sitting on the hard shoulder of the motorway.
He said: "We had only gone one junction when my girlfriend smelt petrol in the car, so I called the garage's mechanic.
"He said the car had been for a service and it is usual to smell a bit of fuel, so there wasn't a problem.
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"So we carried on a bit further and my girlfriend asked me to open the windows, because the smell of fuel had got that strong.
"I stopped on the hard shoulder, between J5 and J6, to remove the roof but then the next thing was we heard a loud bang, it was like a firework going off, and the back of my car caught fire."
Lak, who runs an online trading company, says if they didn't get out when they did they could have died.
"I just had to watch helplessly as the car which I had worked so hard to buy went up in smoke," he said.
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"We nearly died. If I didn't pull over when I did I dread to think what happened. It was very frightening and my girlfriend is scared to get in any car with me now."
He is now demanding answers from the garage and plans to take legal action.
Lak added: "I am meeting with my solicitor to see whether to take legal action as I can't believe its a coincidence that I'd only just had the car back from the garage.
"I'm absolutely devastated. I only had the car for a year and a half and I loved it.. I paid £12,000 to get it gold plated and £10,000 on the service - and then this happens.
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"I want answers because it clearly wasn't safe to drive and if it had burst into flames as I was going along then we could have been killed."
A West Midlands Fire Service spokeswoman said ten firefighters were sent to the scene at 8.54pm and crews used a hose-reel jet to douse the flames.
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