A COUPLE and their two children jumped to safety as a fierce fire engulfed their car.

Darren Robinson, aged 23, leapt out of the blazing vehicle -- along with his wife Rachel, aged 26, and their children Joseph, aged five and three-year-old Susie -- seconds before it burst into flames. Today, as Mr Robinson was still counting the cost of the damage, he revealed: "I'm just glad we all got out alive. The car is not important."

The six-year-old Ford Escort, which Mr Robinson bought only last week, caught fire on Bury Road, Breightmet, as the family were on their way to the cinema for a night out on Saturday.

Mr Robinson, of Winchester Way, Bolton, said he jumped out of the car with his wife when the spotted smoke pouring from the engine compartment near the junction with Radcliffe Moor Road.

Residents from nearby homes helped to bring the fire under control using a hose pipe but the car was destroyed.

The couple and their children were uninjured. An electrical fault is believed to have caused the fire.