Ms Johnston, 51, managed to escape the £20,000 car before the driver’s seat was engulfed by the flames. The former Labour councillor was left shaken and unscathed and dialled 999.

Cumbria Police say it is now investigating the incident.

A force spokesman said: “Nobody was hurt in the fire. Officers have liaised with Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service and enquiries are taking place to fully establish the cause of the fire.”

Speaking to the Mail, Ms Johnston said: “It’s terrifying to think someone might want to do me and my family harm.

“I hoped it was an electric fault but the fire brigade told me they thought it was deliberate. That’s definitely my fear, that someone did this on purpose to try and hurt me.”

Ms Johnston’s escape from the fire, which left her shaken but unscathed, comes after her daughter was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for making up a story about being raped and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang.

Williams, 22, was convicted in January of nine counts of perverting the course of justice; she was sentenced at Preston Crown
Court.

Sentencing her, Mr Justice Altham said her allegations “were complete fiction” and criticised her for showing “no significant signs of remorse”.

Williams made headlines in May 2020 when she posted photos of herself on social media covered in shocking bruises with a black eye and a partially severed finger.

She claimed she had been trafficked by a grooming gang and made to attend “sex parties”.

Well-wishers who started a crowdfunding campaign to support Eleanor, Councillor and fundraiser Shane Yerrell, said he was planning to take legal action to recover the money.

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Mr Yerrell said following Williams’ conviction that he felt “betrayed” and called on Ms Johnston to return the money.

He told the BBC: “I think a lot of people have been betrayed. I’ve been betrayed, the people who donated have been betrayed. I’m going to take legal action to recover the money in full. It’s with a solicitor at the moment, and we go from there. It feels like I failed as a fundraiser.

“I got it wrong with my judgement. I know a lot of people did, but I put a lot of time into it. It’s gutting to know it’s all fabricated.”

Mr Yerrell said following the conclusion of the trial, several charities had turned down offers of the money from crowdfunders.

He added: “I’ve got a duty of care to the people who donated in good faith. I would like it to go to people who deserve it.”

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