A MOTHER who escaped her Vauxhall Zafira when it went up in flames with seconds to spare has welcomed plans to recall more than 200,000 of the cars.

Last year mum-of-four Lisa Taperek’s Zafira went up in flames in Royal Wootton Bassett just moments after she rescued her baby son from the back seat.

Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control but the car was completely destroyed, leaving Lisa having to claim for the damage on her own insurance. Now she has lost all of her no claims bonus and has had to buy a new car - and this time it is not another Zafira.

Following the announcement from Vauxhall that more than 234,000 Zafiras will now be recalled for the second time over a problem that has seen seen the cars burst into flames.

Lisa welcomed the news and said it was about time that Vauxhall took the issue seriously.

"I'm not that surprised to be fair, it's like they don't even know what is wrong with the cars," she said. "They are a ticking time bomb and it won't be long before someone is killed. We had a lucky escape."

Vauxhall took the decision despite a first recall in December 2015 to correct the issue, which the manufacturer said was caused by improper repairs to the blower motor resistor on the manufacturer's people carrier model.

Described by the car maker as ‘preventative action’, they say this latest recall will involve ‘improving the overall robustness of the system’ as opposed to simply replacing the resistor and its fuse, which the firm started doing last year.

In December, Vauxhall wrote to all 234,938 Zafira B owners about the problem.

It said improper repairs of the blower motor resistor and its thermal fuse, which is designed to protect the blower motor system, could lead to overheating of the system's electrical components and the potential for a fire.

Announcing the new recall, a spokesman said: "While the current action achieves the objective of returning vehicles to their original condition, after extensive investigations we have decided to go further and improve the overall robustness of the system.

"We will therefore be initiating a second recall to replace the current soldered fuse resistor with a wax fuse resistor so reducing the opportunity for manipulation.

"When the recalls are complete, all vehicles will have a new wax fuse resistor, a new blower motor and a new moulding at the base of the windscreen to address water ingress."

Both recalls have been free for car owners and the company will be writing to customers soon with information. Letters inviting them into dealerships for the second recall are expected to go out in August.

Vauxhall said drivers who have not yet had the work from the first recall completed should still take their cars to dealerships.