Jaguar has come under pressure to recall its flagship electric cars after two drivers claimed they had brake failures while driving.

Craig Phillips, the first winner of Big Brother, yesterday claimed the brakes on his electric I-Pace failed as he was driving with his young children. He said his £76,000 vehicle malfunctioned as he approached a red light near his home in Merseyside on New Year’s Eve.

The 52-year-old said the brake pedal of his EV appeared to jam while taking his wife Laura Sherriff, 37, and their children, aged three and five, to a meal in December. It came after another I-Pace owner, Nathan Owen, was forced by police to come to a stop on the M62 when his car “went rogue” on Wednesday.

Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Buckingham and a senior member of the Transport Select Committee, said it was “imperative” for Jaguar Land Rover to recall affected cars if there were fears of widespread problems.

“If there is a safety concern with the I-Pace it is imperative that Jaguar recall to fix them,” Mr Smith said. “There is no acceptable scenario where a car with risk of brake failure remains on the road.”

‘There was no way of stopping’

Phillips, who won the first series of Channel 4’s Big Brother in 2000, told MailOnline: “I can’t describe to you what a terrifying feeling that was when the two children are in the back. The more I pushed down, the more it forced up, and the car carried on rolling.”

He said he was lucky that the lights changed from red to green and the two cars in front of him pulled away.

“Otherwise I would have collided with them,” he added. “There was no way of stopping. I had no options, I either mount the kerb, run into the back of them or go into the lane coming towards me.”

Describing the brake pedal forces, he said: “I forced my whole body weight on it. And it was pushing me up. I’ve driven for 30-odd years, and I’ve driven many old vans where the brakes have gone.

“Now normally, if a brake fails in a car or a van, it’s the hydraulics that have seized or the hydraulic pipe burst and you can still physically push down on the brake very hard, which would slow it down and stop it.

“I’ve experienced that four or five times in the past with old builder’s vans, but this was the complete opposite. This was like the hydraulic pushing my foot up.”