A motorist had a lucky escape this morning after his van burst into flames in a carpark in Co Clare.

The man had been driving through Clarecastle near Ennis at around 8.30am when he thought he saw smoke. He pulled his vehicle into a local carpark however moments later it burst into flames.

The fire quickly took hold and spread to a nearby car. Two units of the fire brigade from Ennis rushed to the scene where they found both vehicles well alight.

Firefighters managed to prevent the blaze from spreading to two other cars however some overhead power cables suffered heat damage. ESB engineers were called to deal with that.

Gardaí met with the van driver at the scene and were trying to make contact with the owner of the car.

No one was injured in the incident.