This is all that was left of a Ferrari sports car after it exploded into a fireball on a busy road in Southampton yesterday afternoon.

Traffic slowed to a crawl on Bassett Green Road in Bassett, and drivers felt the heat of the blaze through their windows and saw black smoke billowing into the air.

No one was in the luxury vehicle, thought to be a Ferrari 360 estimated to be worth more than £100,000, when it burst into flames.

Eyewitness Ben Gillam said: "At first I saw small wisps of smoke and then, as I got closer, it turned into black billowing smoke.

"I could feel the heat of the fire through my car window and I was four lanes away.

"It looked like the car had parked up because there were no skid marks or debris.

"There was a guy in a tracksuit standing close by looking pretty distressed so I'm guessing that he was the driver."

Another eyewitness said: "As I was driving along Stoneham Way I could see a burnt out shell of what used to be a very expensive Ferrari.

"All I could make out was the distinctive badge and the four wheels. The rest of the car had burned to the ground."