EAST Lancashire pensioner James Green suffered a dreadful death - from burns sustained when a spark from his pipe set his car on fire as he read a newspaper while parked at a beauty spot.

But terrible as this was, just as shocking is the disclosure which came at the inquest into the tragedy - that what happened to 80-year-old Mr Green could easily happen to anyone because cars are potential death traps full of highly-flammable material.

Just how dangerous they are was revealed when the coroner heard that his car seat burst into flames immediately when an ember from his pipe blew on to it.

Yet , it turns out while there are conditions requiring materials used in household furniture to be fire-resistant, there are no such regulations for car upholstery. This is frightening - and crazy. And how extremely hazardous this oversight can be was spelled out not only by Mr Green's death, but also by the fact that, within a month of it , there were two road accidents in East Lancashire in which three more people died as a result of fire.

Every motorist should carry a fire extinguisher, a fire chief warns. This is sound advice. But should not cars be banned from being such tinder-boxes in the first place?

If it makes sense to protect household furniture from fire, it makes even more to make car seats safer - especially when people are, arguably, at greater risk of being trapped in a car than they are in a house.

This is a bad and lethal flaw in our safety regulations - and the government should act fast to amend it.

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