Petrol thieves were nearly engulfed in a fireball as they tried to steal fuel from a forecourt – and set fire to their Mercedes.
Dramatic CCTV clips captured the moment flames shot out of the back window of a black Mercedes.
Footage showed a man casually leaning on the stolen black vehicle while filling up at the Esso petrol pump in South Harrow, north west London, on Thursday morning.
But just seconds later the car dramatically exploded into flames – with a fireball blowing through the vehicle’s back window.
A confused woman can be seen darting out of the vehicle from the passenger side and brushing down her clothes, before a man from another vehicle runs over to help.
Despite the fire, the driver still tries to drive off from the scene.
Harrow police tweeted: “Police wish to speak to the occupants of this Mercedes following a ‘fuel theft gone wrong’.”
The force then later tweeted pictures of a burnt out car.
They added: “We have now made safe and recovered the vehicle from this morning’s incident involving the fuel theft.”
Police want to trace the man and woman in the video clip and to speak to the occupants of the vehicle.
