The terrifying moment a set of solar panels on a £600,000 new-build home exploded while a family was inside has been caught on camera. 

Ring doorbell footage from earlier this week showed the roof of the property in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, bursting into flames.

Neighbours described the terror of watching the family scramble to safety at about 10.30am on Bank Holiday Monday – as the temperature had already hit 22C.

Thankfully, nobody was injured in the explosion after an off-duty firefighter rescued three adults and one child from the four-bedroom detached house. Five fire crews then arrived and worked quickly to control the blaze.

Fireman Robert Shipman, who lives nearby, was doing DIY when he spotted the blaze. 

Mr Shipman alerted the family to the explosion on their roof and, with two other off-duty firemen who lived nearby, helped evacuate neighbouring properties.

He said: 'As I was coming round the corner I saw a big cloud of smoke.

'I banged on the door and said I'm an off-duty firefighter can you please get out of your house – it's on fire.

'The family didn't realise their roof had gone, they were on the first floor. They got out and we managed to get two of their pets out.

'We knocked on the next-door neighbour's door and said there's a fire, get out.'

At least four cars were damaged in the blaze as tiles fell off the roof and onto the vehicles.

Having seen the footage of the roof instantly exploding, Mr Shipman said he had 'never seen anything like it'.

'You could see some really thick orange flames coming through the loft hatch,' he said.

One neighbour who watched the property go up in flames said the blaze 'happened so suddenly'. 

'One minute the roof was smoking a little and the next it was a raging inferno,' they said.

'People around here are speculating the solar panels may have overheated but there's not much left of them.

#I was chatting to a fella who lives around here who fits solar panels and he said if they are not connected properly and then you get lots of sunny weather, it can cause a surge of power which can cause a fire.

'It's pretty scary because so many people have these things on their houses and with more heatwaves the worry is there'll be more fires as a result.'

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said: 'Five crews and an aerial appliance from Moulton attended the fire and quickly worked to extinguish the blaze which had started in the roof of the house.

'Three adults and one child were helped from the house by an off-duty firefighter.

'After an initial fire investigation, the fire is believed to have been started accidentally.'

The Fire Service have not ruled out the weather as a factor involved in causing the solar panels to explode. 

This comes as the UK had one of the hottest May days ever amid a record-breaking 35C bank holiday heatwave.

Northamptonshire Police this week said: 'Emergency services are at the scene of a major house fire in Wellingborough which started shortly before 10.45am on Monday.

'At least four fire appliances are at the scene of the blaze, at a detached new-build property in Prospero Drive. Nobody is believed to be inside the property.

'Police have closed a number of roads in the immediate area of the blaze which is also blowing smoke across the nearby A509.

'Members of the public are being asked to avoid the area and to close windows to prevent smoke getting inside.'

The houses on the estate were built by David Wilson Homes, part of Barratt Redrow.

A spokesperson said: 'Our priority is supporting the residents affected, meanwhile we will provide any assistance required to the Fire Service as it investigates the cause of the fire.'