Passengers fled for their lives when an Oxford Tube bus burst into flames.

An eyewitness said that about 30 people had to sprint to safety as the vehicle belched fumes and the engine exploded when it ground to a halt in Headington yesterday.

Meanwhile an Oxford woman is on holiday in Minorca unaware that her home in Greater Leys had been gutted in a mystery blaze on Saturday night.

Jane Mathews' house in Dunnocks Way was unoccupied when the alarm was raised at about 9pm. Firefighters searched the property to make sure no-one was trapped.

Oxford fire crews and police were scrambled to London Road near Gipsy Lane when the driver of the Stagecoach bus from London to Oxford brought the vehicle to a sudden stop after passengers shouted to the driver. No-one was hurt.

Stagecoach has praised its driver for his prompt action in getting all the passengers off safely. Michael O'Connor, 35, of Victoria Court, Oxford, was on his way home from London with his brother James, 29.

Michael O'Connor He said: You could smell the fumes. It was pretty unpleasant and it just got worse. By the time we got to Headington it was just clouds of thick, black smoke, and my brother shouted to the driver.

"When the bus stopped, I was just shouting 'get off! get off!' to everyone. There were 30 or more people on board. They were sprinting off, falling on to the grass outside."

Mr O'Connor, who works for the BBC, added: "The driver went back shouting to see if anyone was left inside. If there had been passengers upstairs, I don't think they would be here today.

"The fumes were everywhere. Then the diesel tank exploded, and there was a sheet of flames."

The bus company said as yet it did not know what caused the fire but was investigating.

Spokesman Adam Rideout, however, praised the driver for his prompt action in evacuating the passengers.

He said that after detecting smoke, the driver immediately pulled over, and asked those on board to vacate the coach, while alerting the fire brigade.

An Oxford woman was on holiday in Minorca when her terraced home in Greater Leys was gutted in a mystery blaze.

Jane Mathews' house in Dunnock Way was unoccupied when the alarm was raised around 9pm on Saturday.

More than 20 firefighters were called to the property and found flames at ground floor level and smoke coming from upper windows.

The crews from Rewley Road and Slade Park donned breathing apparatus to search the inside of the house before quickly extinguishing the flames.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said yesterday that the intensity of the blaze, which caused severe damage on both the ground and first floor, highlighted the need to have correctly fitted and working smoke alarms.

Yesterday, a relative of Mrs Mathews said the family had tried unsuccessfully to reach Mrs Mathews via her mobile phone.

He added that two sons of Mrs Mathew also lived at the house, but were not on the premises when the fire was reported.