DON'T leave a cigarette lighter in your car or this could happen to you.

The dangers were highlighted as a 60p lighter combined with the blazing heat of the sun to destroy the interior of a car.

Things could have been much worse if it had happened in a car in which a pet - or worse, a child - had been momentarily left.

Evening Press Transport Reporter Dan Rutstein lost his precious Ford Escort in the blaze.

Plumes of green toxic fumes billowed from the vehicle as Dan attempted to get into his car in our head office car park, in Walmgate, York.

"I couldn't believe it," said Dan. "I thought the windows looked a bit dark, but I reckoned it was just my sunglasses. When I opened the door I was horrified to see what had happened.

"I've only ever been a casual smoker, but I'm certainly giving up after this."

The North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service attended the scene and confirmed the blaze had been caused by the lighter, which had fallen into the back of the seat and ignited in the heat of the bright sun.

The driver's seat was wrecked, the ceiling and driver's door panel melted and all windows were blackened with soot, but the engine and the petrol tank escaped the blaze.

A fire and rescue service spokesman said: "The combination of glass and heat can cause a magnifying glass effect in people's cars.

"In this weather, cheap or old lighters can cause a lot of problems."

Updated: 12:03 Friday, July 06, 2001