A SALE mum and her two-year-old son were lucky to escape serious injury when their car exploded in Aldi car park this week.

Gemma Higgs had just parked up in the multi storey above the store at 12.45 on Tuesday, December 16 when her black Citroen C4 Picasso was engulfed in flame, leading to the evacuation of the supermarket.

Despite Gemma’s harrowing ordeal, the incident brought out the best in Trafford Christmas spirit – from the charity shop workers who helped calm her down, to the praiseworthy actions of Aldi staff, quick thinking actions of bystanders and the excellent response of the emergency services.

“I was taking my mum, Jean, shopping. I parked the car and my mum got out. I turned round to my little boy and saw what I thought was steam coming out the bonnet,” recounted Gemma, 31, of Sale Moor.

“No warning lights had come on during the drive. I thought maybe the car had just overheated a little bit, but then I realised that the smoke looked a bit thick for steam, and I could smell a burning.

“I grabbed my little boy from the car and a guy came over and touched the bonnet. He said it was really hot.

“Another man came over and told us to get away from the car because he could see flames from underneath.

“We had just got to the other side of the car park when the tyres exploded.

“I was in a major panic. One of the men called 999 and the Fire brigade were brilliant. They were there in seconds,” added the mother-of-three.

Crews from Sale and Altrincham wore breathing apparatus and used hose two hose reels to extinguish the car. There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire remains unknown.

Kind-hearted workers at the nearby British Heart Foundation made Gemma a cuppa while husband Mark arrived.

“They helped calm me down and made me a coffee. I was a bit of a hysterical mess. The Aldi store manager, Wayne, was also excellent.

“There is nothing left of the car. The front end is totally destroyed.

“It went up that fast. I don’t know what would have happened if the two men hadn’t got us away from the car. I’d like to thank them and a woman called Terri who stood with us.”

Despite a traumatic day, two-year-old Harry was excited to have a look inside an attending police car, while Gemma was able to share a joke with one of the firemen – a close friend of Mark’s who jokingly blamed her for ruining his Chrismas dinner.

“He said they’d just sat down for their Christmas meal when the 999 call came through. He said the next watch would be eating the turkey now!”