A fire destroyed a car and postbox outside Penge East station.

The fire brigade was called to the scene just after 3.30am on Wednesday (April 16).

A car parked outside the station was reduced to a twisted pile of burnt metal, which also scorched the adjacent postbox.

Jackie Major, who lives in nearby Venner Road, said: "I was just walking to the shops when I saw it.

MORE TOP STORIES "A man with a silver case was talking to another man, I think they were trying to determine whether the bin was set on fire or the car was on fire and then spread.

"I think the car was a Volkswagen. It was completely burnt out, the engine was totalled. I've never seen a car burnt that badly.

"I was quite shocked because I haven’t seen car in that sort of state.

"It must have been a really bad fire."

The 49-year-old candle maker added: “The postbox was all scorched and the paint was peeling off it.

"I wonder if there was any post in it.”

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: "We were called in the early hours of Wednesday morning to a car alight.

"There was also a postbox alight."

One fire engine from Beckenham attended and put out the fire just after 4am.

The fate of the letters inside the postbox, if any, is unknown.