Kaiserslautern, Germany  - A man barbecued his own car by mistake, following a mishap at a grill party in southern Germany, police said Sunday.

The 37-year-old poured a beaker of petrol onto the smouldering charcoal of his balcony grill in order to coax it into life, prompting a tongue of flame to shoot out.

A friend standing next to him panicked and dropped the cannister containing the petrol, causing it to ignite and spill on to the man's car parked below.

The car went up up flames. Two other vehicles were damaged in Saturday evening's blaze, which police said caused no injuries but more than 30,000 euros-worth (45,000 dollars) of damage. (dpa)