FIREFIGHTERS spent around an hour and a half trying to free a woman from her car after it overturned after coming off the road.

The incident happened in Consett, in County Durham, at around 10.55am on Sunday.

The elderly woman was driving on Drover Road when she came off the road and lost control of the vehicle on the steep bank.

She is thought to have suffered minor injuries and was said to be in excellent spirits following the ordeal.

Andy Bruce, from County Durham Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It’s quite a steep, windy bank and an elderly lady has come off the road and overturned. Because the access was difficult we had to stabilise the car which was really arduous. We got her out at about 12.30pm. She had some cuts and bruises but nothing life-threatening.”

Three crews from Consett, Durham and Crook attended, with around 14 firefighters helping with the rescue.

On social media, the service described her as “the luckiest lady in Consett”.

They added: “She was in excellent spirits considering what she had been through.”

A spokesman for the North East Ambulance Service, which sent three vehicles, said the woman was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham with minor injuries.