SHOCKING footage has emerged of a burning car - which its owner claims was set on fire by his Samsung Galaxy Note 7 while charging.

But why are these handsets bursting into flames? Well, it's not exactly a rare issue for the South Korean tech giant.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has only been available since August 19, but it has already been recalled over concerns about faulty batteries.

Just days after its release, stories of handsets catching fire began to emerge from all over the world - prompting Samsung to stop all sales and shipments of the device.

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The explosions are occurring due to the phones' lithium ion batteries. Samsung have admitted that during the manufacturing process, the layer of plastic separating the positive and negative sides of the battery was punctured.

This led to the batteries short circuiting - posing a massive fire risk, as the positive and negative poles coming into contact triggered "excessive heat".

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It's not yet completely clear why most reports involve a phone which overheated while plugged in charging.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note 7, it's strongly advised that you stop using the phone and turn it off, then return it - it will be replaced from September 19.

Airlines Qantas, Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Etihad have all also banned the phones from their flights, while US flight regulator the FAA has warned against travelling with the device.

Meanwhile, the Note 7 isn't the only handset having these kinds of problems - as there have been some reports of similar incidents involving the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.

However, due to the small number of incidents, Samsung has so far decided not the recall the model.