A FRIGHTENED woman told of her shock today after an abandoned car exploded only yards from her York home.

Jean Scott was in bed when the vehicle was set alight opposite her property in Oldman Court, off Foxwood Lane.

"It blew up right outside my house," she said.

"The heat was so intense it burned part of my privet hedge. It could have caused a house fire."

Firefighters were called to extinguish the blaze.

Mrs Scott said the car was abandoned several days earlier and had become a magnet for local youths.

"It was so frightening," she said.

Mick Brighton, North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service's arson reduction co-ordinator, said someone could have been killed.

"The potential explosive force of a car can be quite devastating," he said.

"Those responsible for setting this car alight endangered lives and should be prosecuted."

Updated: 14:30 Tuesday, June 03, 2003