Thousands of Opel Zafira cars may have to be recalled following a series of fires.

A man in Cork was about to board a ferry from Passage West to Cobh when the dashboard of the car went on fire. The man was not harmed in the incident but the car was destroyed.

Opel in Ireland said it is carrying out an investigation following reports of fires in the heating and ventilation systems in a number of Opel Zafiras (Zafira B models launched in 2005 but not the current Zafira Tourer).

There are 8,000 Opel Zafiras, registered from 2005-2012, on the road in Ireland, according to the company which confirmed eight have been affected by the fault to date.

A spokeswoman said the company could not anticipate how many vehicles will be affected by the problem.

Opel said while the number of incidents is very low in proportion to the number of vehicles on the road, they “take the issue very seriously and will take further action.”

The carmaker said it will work with the local authorities to identify the probable cause of the incident that happened in Cork as part of this investigation.

“The safety of our customers is the number one priority. Our investigations to date have found that a number of incidents have occurred due to previous repairs being performed improperly or using certain non-genuine parts,” an Opel spokeswoman said.

The company has been advising owners of Zafira cars sold between 2005 and 2014 to contact their local dealer and arrange an inspection if they are concerned about operating their vehicle or if they notice any unusual characteristics with the heating and ventilation system - such as a squeaking noise from the dashboard.

For further information customers should call Opel Customer Assistance on (01) 533 9818.