FLAMES took hold of an abandoned car early this morning.

The vehicle, believed to have been abandoned for some weeks, went up in flames on the B3157 near Abbotsbury at around 3.33am.

A fire crew from Weymouth was dispatched to battle to blaze and arrived on scene at 3.47am.

They used a hose reel jet to extinguish the fire which was still going strong when they arrived.

They left at 4.07am and Dorset Police were not called.