POLICE have confirmed an incident, in which the mother of Eleanor Williams feared her Range Rover was deliberately ‘torched’, is not being treated as a criminal incident.

Allison Johnston saw smoke when she climbed into her £20,000 Range Rover Evoque and it set alight seconds after she got behind the wheel, national media reported.

She managed to get out of the vehicle as it became engulfed in flames.

It was parked outside her home at Walney's Teasdale Road.

Mrs Johnston had opened up on feeling terrified that the fire may be the result of a deliberate arson attack.

Her daughter is serving an eight and half year prison sentence after she was found to have made false claims of being trafficked and raped by an Asian grooming gang and other men.

Allison told The Sun newspaper: "It's terrifying to think someone might want to do me and my family harm.

"That's definitely my fear, that someone did this on purpose to cause me harm.

“I have been told it could have been deliberate and I assume it was torched.

“It’s possible it was an electrical fault and I am hoping that that is the case - I don't like to think there are people out there capable of doing this.”

The fire happened around 8.30am on Wednesday and was being investigated by Cumbria Police.

On Friday a Cumbria Police spokesman said: “Cumbria Police have assessed that the cause of a vehicle fire which occurred on Teasdale Road, Barrow, earlier this week is the result of an electrical fault and is not being treated as a criminal incident.

“The determination follows extensive enquiries by Cumbria Police and officers from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.

"Local police officers have reviewed hours of CCTV footage to ensure there was no suspicious activity involved and have updated the owner of car with the initial findings.

“Police were called at 8.29am on Wednesday (March 29) with the report. Nobody was hurt during the incident.”