Abergavenny was brought to a standstill on Sunday afternoon (August 17) when a car burst into flames outside a supermarket on the edge of Abergavenny town centre.

Videos shown online and in the Chronicle depicted the scenes as people rushed to steer clear of the road, with emergency services in attendance to tackle the blaze and set up a perimeter for the safety of the public.

Footage and reports quickly emerged via social media while motorists were diverted into the supermarket’s car park and onto a makeshift roundabout, which meant they were able to travel back in the opposite direction.

Gwent Police confirmed they received a call to attend the incident, but no injuries were reported.

“The call came in at around 2.10pm on Sunday August 17,” a spokesperson said.

“No injuries were reported.”

“Officers were in attendance for traffic management/public safety purposes only.”

A large portion of the public safety efforts can also be attributed to the public, with quick-thinking passers by setting up the diversion to keep everyone safe.

In a post online, some of those who had helped came forwards to thank those who were in the area at the time for their cooperation.

“Due to the water leak/road works by the junction on Mill Street the traffic was getting blocked up. It became clear to us that the fire engine was not going to get through. We made a make-shift diversion using the cones from the road works,” they said.

“With the assistance of the Aldi Delivery driver (who was stuck due to the road closure) we kept the traffic flowing as best we could for an hour while the road was shut.”

“We'd like to thank everyone who followed the make-shift diversion and kept the traffic flowing. Thanks for listening to us and also for the compliments we received.”