Great-grandmother rescued from 'fireball' crash after car collides with home

Ursula Scott, 75, said she felt lucky to be alive after the accident in Cambridge Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough.

Mrs Scott, of nearby Newport, was involved in a collision after the car she was travelling in crashed through a fence and into the side of the property.

She was rescued by passer-by Faisal Ali, 32, a property developer and director of the Sleep Centre in Middlesbrough, who dragged her out of the car despite fearing it might explode at any minute.

He said: "I was just walking past and I noticed the old woman crashed into the side of the house and the car set into flames.

"I just ran straight across. It was full of smoke, it was very bad, virtually I took her out of a fireball.

"The car was blocked from both sides, you couldn't open the doors. I opened the back sliding door.

"I was panicking myself as well at the time because it was quite bad, it took me almost, I think, seven or 10 minutes to get her out of the car. To be honest I was frightened myself but I couldn't let her be.

"I just did what I had to do, I just got stuck in.

"It's just nice that she's still here today and she didn't get hurt much. That's the main thing. And she has actually phoned saying thank you which is nice. But anyone would do it, to be fair."

Mrs Scott said she did not intend to renew her driving licence after the accident on Saturday.

"I was in the car for about 10 minutes while it was on fire. I thought it was going to explode - it was very frightening," she told the Gazette.

"I feared the worst - I thought I was a goner. I'm so grateful."