A MUM who rescued her baby from a Vauxhall people carrier just seconds before it burst into flames has backed a damning report into the car manufacturer by MPs.

Lisa Taperek, 33, made national headlines in 2015 when her Zafira B caught fire while her young son was still inside.

Images of the blaze in Royal Wootton Bassett and the charred remains piled pressure on Vauxhall to do more to tackle what became a national scandal around the safety of Zafira B models.

Now a committee of MPs has released a report slamming the manufacturer. They found that Vauxhall showed a reckless disregard for safety by not stopping motorists driving the vehicles it knew were a fire risk.

“I definitely agree that they should have done a lot more to warn people,” said Lisa.

“If it had happened a few minutes later we would have been on the motorway and I would have had two children in the car with me.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

“I actually got a letter about the recall a week after the fire, but it wasn’t much use by then. The next day I went into a Vauxhall dealer and they almost blamed me for not seeing it in the news.

“They said they had put it out in the media, it had been on Watchdog and it was my fault if I hadn’t seen it.

“I would never have been driving if I had.

“They have still never even apologised to me directly.”

The report, by the Commons’ Transport Select Committee, said Vauxhall had been too slow to begin a full investigation and then acted prematurely in attributing the problem to improper repairs by third parties.

Some of the fires, including the one Lisa experienced, were serious enough to destroy entire vehicles.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

Firefighters tackle the burning Zafira in Royal Wootton Bassett

Campaigners claim more than 300 Zafiras have caught fire in recent years.

Initially the faults were blamed on repairs carried out by third parties.

MPs concluded that Vauxhall was too quick to reach this conclusion and that it should have investigated more thoroughly.

The report said: “Vauxhall’s decision to continue to let people drive affected cars amounts to a reckless disregard for safety.

“In the absence of any explanation for its tardy response from the witnesses that appeared before us, we can only conclude that commercial considerations and the need to avoid reputational damage were put ahead of safety.

"This is unacceptable and morally reprehensible.”