Motorhome explodes on Dursley campsite in the night

A woman has described the dramatic scenes as a motorhome exploded close to where she was camping.

Pauline Jeffrey and her husband were staying in their camper van in a site near Dursley in Gloucestershire when a neighbouring vehicle was engulfed by flames and "turned the sky orange".

She told of being woken by a "massive boom" and panicked as she called 999.

Mrs Jeffrey used location app what3words to guide emergency services to the location.

The app, which gives each three-by-three square metre of the earth's surface a unique three-word address, is used by more than 100 UK emergency services.

Mrs Jeffrey said after watching the sunset and enjoying some dinner at the campsite at Nibley House, she and her husband had gone to bed at about 23:00 BST on 17 July.

"I woke up a little later to a beeping sound. We couldn't work out where it was coming from but figured it wasn't inside our van so we went back to sleep," she said.

"Then we were woken up by a massive boom, and the sky went orange. We shot up out of bed and saw one of the vans engulfed by 30-foot flames.

"Completely panicked and shaken, I called 999. I didn't know if anyone was in the van, and it continued to explode and burn."

But as she spoke to the call handler, Mrs Jeffrey realised she had no idea where she was.

"She asked for the postcode, and again, I didn't know. I kept thinking, how do I explain how to get to this field that's in the middle of nowhere?

"Then I remembered what3words. I told her our location, and she was able to find us right away. The fire crew and police arrived in 10 minutes."

As it was past midnight, Mrs Jeffrey said she was worried because she assumed the occupants of the motorhome would have been inside at that time.

"About half an hour later the couple came strolling into the field, they'd been at the local pub.

"They'd only had their van for two weeks," Mrs Jeffrey said.

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