CHELMSFORD City’s chairman said he and his family are “fine” after having to flee their home during a fire.

Mansell Wallace had to run out of his four-bedroom detached home in Church Green, Roxwell, in the early hours of Saturday when a suspected electrical fault in a Range Rover sparked flames.

Firefighters from Chelmsford, Great Baddow and Leaden Roding fire stations were called out to the incident, at about 3.15am, which destroyed two Range Rovers and a Mini Cooper.

The property’s garage was also left in ruins along with damage being caused inside the house.

Despite the damage, Mr Wallace said he, his wife, daughter and two pet dogs had escaped and were doing well.

Mr Wallace said: “We are all OK and a structural engineer is coming down later in the week to have a look at the damage.

“We were woken up by one of the car alarms and when my wife looked outside she thought the smoke was just fog.

“I went out to try and put it out with a fire extinguisher, but I realised it was too big so we all got out into the back garden where our neighbours had pulled down the fence to help us out before the firefighters came.

“I’ll still be at City games for the rest of the season – my daughter and I were at the Bath game on Saturday.

“We want to thank our friends, family and neighbours for all their help in the last few days.”

It took firefighters just over an hour to put out the flames before returning at 9.30am to check for hotspots.

A spokesman for Essex Fire and Rescue said the investigation into the official cause of the fire is “still ongoing”.