An Ipswich Town fan has told how his treasured Blues shirts somehow survived mostly unscathed after his car went up in flames.
Paul Jenkins, who now lives in Nottingham but was born in Ipswich, was driving his young family back to the East Midlands from Suffolk on the August Bank Holiday when his Ford C-Max caught fire.
The 33-year-old quickly got his wife and two sons out of the vehicle, which was left completely scorched by the time firefighters extinguished the blaze.
Mr Jenkins later went to collect any surviving possessions from what was left of the car but was not expecting to retrieve anything.
But to his shock, he managed to extract some clothes from the boot – including the home and away shirts from this season, and Mr Jenkins' beloved top with Blues hero Matt Holland's name and number on the back from the Premier League era.
Mr Jenkins, an avid shirt collector, shared pictures of his kits on social media and even got a reply from the former Town midfielder himself.
He revealed he is going to fetch a new car in the coming days.
Mr Jenkins said: "We'd been down in Suffolk for the Bank Holiday to see my parents and have a long weekend – I'd also been to the Leeds game as a birthday present.
"We set off for home from my parents' house in Wickham Market on the Monday evening.
"About 10 minutes from the end of the A14 a light came on in my car, and I hoped I could nurse it home. But by Leicester a red oil light came on.
"About half an hour from home I heard a bang and could see smoke coming out, then flames. I had my children in the back so I got them and my wife out. It was shocking.
"Everything in the front of the car had just gone – and iPad we had in the front had turned to dust.
"But three suitcases had amazingly survived. I got the Town shirts in a bucket with Vanish and washed, and they all came out fine.
"Surprisingly the most flammable sort of shirts survived the fire.
"But I'm just grateful and thankful to God that we all got out okay."
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