A mother-of-four smelled a strong stench of nail varnish remover before an e-bike explosion destroyed her house.

Cheryl Whitter, 44, saw her house in Mitcham, south London, burnt out after the bike exploded in her living room last Friday.

The explosion led to an inferno 'climbing up the walls and across the ceiling' and forced her son to leap out of the window to avoid the flames.

The house, which the family have lived in for 12 years, is charred and will have to be demolished.

The blaze was caused by the failure of a lithium-ion battery for the e-bike which exploded 'like fireworks'.

It spread through the house quickly because there was no door between the living room and the hallway.

The pipes were beneath the front door meaning the house exploded once the fire spread into the hallway.

After realizing there was a blaze Ms Whitter grabbed her 10-year-old son and ran into the garden.

A mother-of-four smelled a strong stench of nail varnish remover before an e-bike explosion destroyed her house in Mitcham

Cheryl Whitter, 44, saw her house in south London burnt out after the bike exploded in her living room last Friday

While her son Che, 20, leapt out of his window after seeing flames travel up the ceiling and walls.

The home has been left uninhabitable and the family, who 'have lost absolutely everything', are sheltering at a Premier Inn in Colliers Wood.

Ms Whitter's sister Debbie, 58, said she thought the mother had died after hearing her house had ignited.

The full-time carer, from Coulsdon, Surrey, told MyLondon she couldn't stand up after hearing about the fire.

'I rang my sister, couldn't get through, I rang all her kids, and couldn't get through,' she said.

'Panic then kicked in and my legs collapsed, I couldn't stand up. I nearly had a heart attack, that's my baby sister - it was the most horrible news I've ever heard.'

Local residents have donated clothes and household items, while AFC Wimbledon have donated five beds and mattresses.

The Mitcham fire comes as e-bike explosions are on the rise, with 169 recorded between January and September in London alone.

And earlier this month the London Fire Brigade warned the capital is on track to surpass 200 in a year for the first time ever.

In June, a 30-year-old woman died in an e-bike fire after a blaze in Wood Green.

In December an e-bike lithium battery exploded inside a home - setting the south east London flat ablaze.

Josh Pearson, 28, and Danielle Bamber, 24, were killed when a blaze caused by an exploding e-bike broke out at their home

Eden Abera Siem died following the fire which was most likely caused by the failure of a charging lithium-ion battery pack for an e-bike.

In December an e-bike lithium battery exploded inside a home - setting the south east London flat ablaze.

The force of the explosion was so great that it blew the doors off the home in Catford.

The blaze was started by an e-bike battery being charged in the home.

It was a normal pedal bike which had a lithium-ion battery fitted, which was bought online second hand.

In the same month an inquest ruled that the parents of two young boys died in a house fire that was started by an exploding e-bike battery.

Josh Pearson, 28, and Danielle Bamber, 24, were killed when the blaze broke out at their home in Peter Street, Blackpool, on July 17, 2024.

Mr Pearson had been storing e-bikes in the house to buy and sell and had sought advice on modifying batteries.

Their two sons, aged six and one, were saved from the fire - the eldest by a heroic neighbour who smashed through their front door and the youngest by firefighters who entered the upstairs bedroom.

Mother-of-four 'smelled nail varnish remover' before house explosion