An Aberdeen couple’s new car was destroyed by a fire in a city centre car park yesterday.
The blue Porsche 911 belonging to David and Lesley Knott went up in flames on the third floor of the Union Square car park.
The couple were enjoying lunch to celebrate Mr Knott’s return from a five-week business trip in the Republic of Congo when the drama unfolded at about 1pm.
Mrs Knott, 56, of Cove, said: “We arrived at Union Square at 11.45am. We went for something to eat at 12pm, when we came back to the car it was up in flames.
“We saw the fire engines and wondered what was going on there. We were in the lift and the guy next to us said there’s a car on fire.”
When they arrived on the top level of the car park, they released with horror it was their car – that they only bought three months ago.
Mrs Knott added: “The only consolation is maybe that nobody was parked nearby.
“We have only just got the car, we’ve had it under three months.”
The fire started in the car’s engine, located at the rear of the vehicle, and it is understood to have been the result of an electrical fault.
The top floor of the building was locked down as firefighters – unable to drive their engines up the twisty road to the top level – used a height vehicle to tackle the flames.
The car was completely destroyed in the blaze, along with Mr Knott’s passport, laptop, an Ipad and gifts he had brought back from his trip. After the flames had been extinguished, the full extent of damage could be seen, with the roof completely melted and the back of the car a wreck.
The 47-year-old who works for Total, added: “You can replace a car. Thankfully nobody was in the car at the time.”
Union Square was not evacuated while the fire was brought under control.
A spokeswoman for the retail centre said: “Scottish Fire and Rescue Service were called to extinguish a small fire isolated to one car in our car park this afternoon.
“There were no injuries and no other vehicles were affected. The mall remained open for business.”