A mother and her four children are lucky to be alive after making a miracle escape from their burning car. 

Bex Whitley had just arrived at the Tesco car park in Swaffham with her 12-year-old daughter Willow and her sons Kenny, eight, Charlie, four and Jack, one, when she got out of the seven-seater car as she was feeling hot.  

It turned out to be a life-saving decision as shortly after the Vauxhall Zafira was engulfed in fierce flames. 

Eastern Daily Press: Bex Whitley, 33, was in the car with her four children at the timeBex Whitley, 33, was in the car with her four children at the time (Image: Bex Whitley)

After noticing a "puff of smoke that looked like it came from a vape" the 33-year-old nail technician from Great Cressingham saw bright orange flames sizzling at the front window screen of the car. 

"As soon as the fire started, all my doors deadlocked,” she said. “If I hadn't opened my door already, we would have been trapped inside the car like a tomb. 

"I managed to get the kids out quickly but my eight-year-old was trapped in the back and I had to carry him all the way out through the only open door on the driver's side. 

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Eastern Daily Press: Firefighters using a hose to extinguish the last of the flamesFirefighters using a hose to extinguish the last of the flames (Image: Bex Whitley)

"We stepped away from the car for five seconds and then the fire really took hold and covered the entire vehicle." 

In a period of only 30 seconds, the family had managed to escape the furnace and were taken inside the Tesco store and cared for by staff. 

Emergency services arrived shortly after to fight the blaze, leaving an incinerated car seat in the husk of the burnt-out Zafira.  

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Eastern Daily Press: Bex could still see her baby's mangled car seat in the wreckageBex could still see her baby's mangled car seat in the wreckage (Image: Bex Whitley)

Although there were no injuries sustained in the incident, the memories of the "sizzling and crackling" flames on August 31 have left Mrs Whitley and her children traumatised. 

She added: "I was terrified, I literally felt sick when I went out to meet my husband and saw the children's car seats melted. 

"As my eight-year-old was the last one out, he's still having nightmares about it and it's really affected him."