Exclusive:'I was driving a death trap': Leeds mum, daughter and dog escape dramatic M1 car fire
A Leeds mum has told how her 10-year-old daughter has suffered “severe trauma” and “hates getting in the car” after her vehicle burst into flames.
Claire Robinson was driving back to her home in Cross Gates on the M1 when smoke started emitting from the engine of her Vauxhall Mokka on April 22.
She then pulled over to the hard shoulder by the Colton exit and scrambled to help her six-year-old daughter and 10-year-old dog get out of the vehicle before the fire took hold.
She has called on Vauxhall to provide compensation after claiming that staff failed to pick up on faults with the vehicle.
However, the company has responded saying that an inspection after the fire found no “material or manufacturing defects”.
Ms Robinson said that before the fire she had taken the car to the Evans Halshaw garage in Holbeck on multiple occasions after the engine management light kept coming on, which she said was due to a “fire safety hazard”.
She said that on each occasion she was directed to speak to someone at the Vauxhall head office and was repeatedly told that the car was “safe to drive”.
“It was also guzzling oil, even though it was a new car”, she said.
She claimed that she has since discovered that there was a recall on her model of the car and that some customers were offered compensation, although Vauxhall has denied that the vehicle was subject to any recalls.
Ms Robinson said: “I was driving a death trap.”
On the morning of the fire, Ms Robinson said that smoke was coming from the front as she sat in morning traffic while driving back from her partner’s near Batley.
She said: “I thought it was the morning dew or that I had overheated the engine. By the time we pulled into the hard shoulder the vehicle was on fire.”
She said that after pulling her daughter out she had to rush back to help her dog escape, adding: “Luckily only two weeks earlier I had put a mesh between the driver’s seat to stop him getting in. That’s how I knew where he was.”
Ms Robinson has shared pictures of the vehicle which shows the significant extent of the damage.
She said that she was advised to make a claim to the head office at Vauxhall and that she recently received a response stating that they don’t accept liability.
She said: “We could have died and when I said this on the phone they said ‘well we are glad you didn’t’.
“I wasn’t asking for a lot of compensation but just enough to cover my losses. I’ve lost £1,000 on belongings.
“And what about the trauma of it? I had to be put on sleeping tablets and my daughter is scared to death of going in a car now and we have to avoid motorways.”
Ms Robinson added that she has asked Vauxhall to provide a copy of the report on the inspection but that they have refused.
“A joint inspection of the vehicle took place on July 1, 2025, carried out by Vauxhall alongside an appointed representative from the customer’s insurance provider, in which no material or manufacturing defects were found.
“Therefore, no liability against Vauxhall was agreed with the insurer’s representative and any outstanding claim needs to be determined under the terms of the vehicle’s insurance policy.”
A spokesperson for Evans Halshaw, said: "Our team is aware of this customer issue and is currently investigating it further with the manufacturer."