Father 'dreads new life' after Cambridge e-bike fire tragedy

A father who lost his family in a fire thought to be have been caused by a faulty e-bike battery has called for tougher regulations on the devices.

Scott Peden spent four weeks in an induced coma after the fire at their Cambridge home on 30 June.

His partner Gemma Germeney, 31, and children Lilly, eight, and Oliver, four, all lost their lives.

Mr Peden told BBC Breakfast: "I'm dreading this new life I've been forced to start, I want my old life back".

"I came out of that house with nothing, not even the clothes on my back," he said.

Mr Peden is calling for tighter regulations on the sale of second-hand batteries.

He had bought a replacement e-bike battery weeks before the blaze after his was stolen, and had placed it to charge overnight.

"We were awoken by an almighty bang, my bike was spitting out flames form the ground floor all the way up to the second floor," he said.

"It was a scene out of a nightmare."

He told how he jumped out the window and tried to fight the fire outside, suffering multiple burns and breaking his ankle, while his partner tried get the children to safety.

"The fire department came and they asked me who was in the house and I just screamed 'everyone'," he said.

He told how he could hear his girlfriend inside saying: "I can't get out".

Mr Peden was taken to hospital and placed in a coma, and said his parents had broken the tragic news to him that his family and two dogs had died.

He described his partner Gemma as "the most amazing person in the world".

"Lilly and her brother had the most amazing relationship, they played constantly," he said.

Cambridgeshire Fire Service has written to the coroner requesting they push for better regulation of online sales of e-bike batteries.

The coroner has yet to complete the inquest and said the matter was still "subject to investigation".

Mr Peden said he did not know batteries could explode "like a bomb" and joined calls for tougher restrictions on the sale of second-hand batteries.

"There needs to be a law about buying second-hand batteries, they need to be checked, MOT'ed," he said.

"Do not put them on charge near your exit.

"You do no want to be the next person to go through what I been through."

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