A MAN found out his car was on fire after getting a call from his friend in the vehicle behind.

The driver was stopped on the M66 earlier this morning (Friday) close to the roundabout for Bolton Road North at around 2.45am.

Firefighters rushed to the scene of the incident to find the car engulfed in flame, although nobody was hurt.

A section of the motorway was closed for around an hour while the blaze was extinguished.

Steve Wilcox, watch manager at Bury Fire Station, said: "There were two cars travelling up the M66, they were being driven by friends.

"The driver at the rear noticed flames coming out of the bottom of his friend's vehicle. He flashed him and ended up calling his friend to tell him what had happened."

The firefighters were called after the two drivers had stopped. By the time they reached the car it was completely covered in flames.

It took around 40 minutes to extinguish the fire although the car was destroyed.

Mr Wilcox explained that firefighters had to close the road because of the danger of being hit by cars while it is dark.

He said: "One of the difficulties at that time of the morning is that it's significantly more dangerous.

"During the day the cars back up and you can just drive up but during the night the cars come barrelling up at 70mph."