Dad recalls hearing loud bangs as the fire took hold of the car park

A dad has described how hundreds of vehicles went up in flames - including his own - when a fire broke out in a multi-storey car park near Liverpool Echo Arena.

Kevin Booth, 44, from Manchester, described listening to the ‘very scary’ bangs of cars exploding, knowing that his new vehicle was inside the structure.

The adjacent Liverpool International Horse Show had to be cancelled after the blaze started at about 5pm on New Year’s Eve.

Mr Booth took his wife Julie and 16-year-old daughter Holly to Liverpool to see the horse show as a treat.

Mr Booth, from Manchester, left the six-month-old Fiat 500 X in the Echo Arena car park just after 1pm.

Later in the afternoon at 4.45pm he was informed by staff at the arena that there was a small fire which was under control.

His family was shortly after evacuated to the nearby Hilton hotel where they waited on the first floor.

After that the family returned to the Jurys Inn Hotel where they had booked to stay overnight.

From there they were able to see and hear the fire.

Merseyside Police has indicated a preliminary investigation has suggested an accidental fire involving one vehicle also caused many other cars to ignite.

Firefighters were still at the scene on New Year’s Day morning.