A SUPERSONIC car built in Berkeley survived a fire scare to pass a major milestone as part of their aim to break the 1,000mph barrier.

The Bloodhound LSR, built at SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College, passed the 500mph during a recent test in the South African desert.

It reached 501mph before a twin parachute released to slow the car on the 10 km mark. As a result the car is now among the 10 fastest in the world.

However, not all went according to plan.

During the engine shutdown procedure, a fire warning alert went off, forcing pilot Andy Green to evacuate the cockpit.

Explaining what happened a spokesperson for the group said: "Rescue trucks were on the scene in seconds. The firefighters inspected the rear engine bay and discovered there was no fire.

"The alert was triggered by a fire wire which is designed to burn and break at 160°C. The afternoon sun was 36°C, which, combined with the heat soak from the Eurofighter Typhoon, triggered the alert. This exercise validated that both the fire detection system and fire response processes the team has set up work successfully."

Messages on the Bloodhound LSR Twitter feed stated that this had since occurred for a second time and engineers are now working to fix the issue.

Despite this the team hopes to be able to reach 550mph in the coming days.

The Bloodhound project went into administration before being rescued last December by entrepreneur Ian Warhurst and moved to Berkeley.

Testing is taking place ahead of an attempt on the land speed record in the next two years.