A FIRE which destroyed a car and damaged the exterior of a home may have been caused by spontaneous combustion of garden clippings.

Fire crews were called to a house on Key Way, in the Fulford area of York at 2.05am this morning following reports that a car was alight.

The Ford Focus was parked at the back of the house and the ferocity of the blaze caused damage to the home, damaging the kitchen window and cracking an upstairs window. Fencing at the property was also damaged.

A spokesperson for the fire service said everyone was out of the property on their arrival and they used two hose reel jets to put out the blaze.

Fire fighters believed the cause was spontaneous combustion of garden waste, or a discarded battery.

“On their arrival crews used two hose reel jets to extinguish fire to a Ford Focus, adjacent fencing and to the exterior of the property’s kitchen,” said the spokesperson.

“All persons were out of property on fire arrival. Cause is believed to be due to spontaneous combustion of garden clippings in an external storage bin or arcing of a discarded battery in the bin.”