A pub landlord had a narrow escape this afternoon when his camper van burst into flames, blowing out the windows of his home and wrecking a neighbour’s car.

Nick Hindle had seconds earlier dashed from his terraced house in Sun Street, Haworth, alerted by his dalmatian dog, Dicky.

As smoke billowed from the VW, Mr Hindle, who runs The Fleece in Main Street, Haworth, tried to retrieve a Calor gas canister but fled as the flames took hold.

As he stood back the camper – which he was preparing for a trip to the Lake District tomorrow - was engulfed by smoke and flames.

And as he looked on, the blaze spread to his home, the flames setting fire to windows and damaging the front door.

“I was up in the loft and a neighbour knocked at the door and the dog started barking,” he said.

“I came down and I saw smoke coming from the engine area. I couldn’t believe it.

“I thought I must get the Calor gas out but the fire caught hold so quickly I had to get away.

“I had been packing up to go to the Lake District with my partner Fiona Stott. It’s a disaster but I’ve got to be thankful nobody was injured.”

The blaze had blown the windows from the front of his home and there was fire and smoke damage.

“Neighbours have been great offering me a place to stay but I’ll sleep in the pub tonight,” he added.

Justin Ponter, who also lives in Sun Street and captured the blaze on his mobile phone, said he first noticed smoke coming from the cab area of the camper.

“It then went up very quickly and I heard some popping noises which I thought was a gas canister,” he said.

Keighley fire service watch commander Nick Padwick said the explosive noises people heard were bursting tyres.

He believed the fire was caused by an electrical fault and had started in the engine compartment.

“It spread very rapidly and the camper was completely wrecked.

“The vehicle was fully alight when we arrived and it had set fire to a car parked nearby.

“All the windows of the house were broken and there was smoke damage,” he said.