CCTV footage captured the moment flames engulfed a garden after petrol was poured onto a firepit.

Danny Keenan and his wife were hosting some garden drinks with their neighbours in Barrow when their evening took an unexpected turn last month.

As the temperature dropped, the 35-year-old decided to use some petrol in an attempt to revive the dwindling fire.

However, he never expected the fire would spread uncontrollably and damage the garden furniture in the process.

Fiery CCTV footage shows how the flammable liquid caught light and within seconds flames started to run up Mr Keenan's sleeve causing the wagon driver to drop the canister.

In a flash, fire spread across the gravel underneath and jumped on to a nearby sofa, setting the cushions alight.

But the quick-thinking couple were able to make an inventive getaway - lifting up their garden fence, dragging the remains of the sofa through and using the panel to protect themselves from the flames.

The Mail:

Mr Keenan said: "I've never had anything like this happen to me before so it was a huge shock. I was relieved I had a jacket on and didn't get burnt and nobody else was injured.

"The temperature had dropped and I just couldn't get the wood burning properly on the fire pit. It doubles up as a fire pit and BBQ and the embers had died down a bit from the food earlier.

"The fire jumped up my arm first which is why I ended up dropping the canister. Fortunately I managed to bat it off quickly so I didn't get burned.

"But the flames spread quickly as we have a tarpaulin under the stones and that caught light which then jumped onto the sofa. We could've burnt ourselves really badly. We knew there was no fear of it getting out of control or that we'd have to call 999.

"It took us a good 10 minutes to put it out properly. We were really lucky that none of us were hurt in it and the only damage was the cushion covers getting burned."
 

The Mail:

Mr Keenan said the incident made him realise the dangers of using petrol on fires.

He said: "It's definitely made me think not to use petrol in the future. I think I'll just use fire-lighters next time and get a better fire pit."