A family unexpectedly had to fight a blaze after their 10-foot trampoline burst into flames.

Amanda Marks watched the item she had owned for seven years go up in smoke - and says the incident was caused by the sun’s rays.

She is now warning other families to be careful leaving items in the sun.

The 48-year-old said: “We had gone inside for a drink and my daughter Sophie ran in and said ‘the trampoline is on fire’.

“It started smoking first and then it went up. The plastic burning was the worst. It smelled. It burnt the grass underneath with plastic.

“It would have to be the sun catching on the metal - the fire went from the outside-in.”

Amanda, who is the manager of the Radway Cinema, had been enjoying the sunshine with her family on Saturday afternoon.

She said that two of her grandchildren were inside, due to the heat, instead of playing on the trampoline, which was in the middle of the garden.

The grandmother-of-eight is keen to find out what caused the fire. Amanda called the incident a ‘one-off’ after finding only one similar incident in America.

She added: “So many families have trampolines near their houses, but ours is in the middle of our garden. There was no way for someone to throw a cigarette from a car window. We back on to a field which no-one can go into.

“If we hadn’t of been there, things might have been different.”