THE dramatic moment when a motorist escaped with his life from his blazing car was caught on camera on October 12, 2011.

The driver was one of two involved in a head-on collision on the A68 at Burtree, near Darlington.

Both men, who were from Bishop Auckland, were reportedly trapped in their cars, a Citroen C3 and a Renault Clio, after the accident at about 6pm.

It is believed that passing motorists risked their lives to pull the victims clear of their cars before they were engulfed in flames.

Drivers who witnessed the aftermath of the accident saw two men helping one from the scene.

The 60-year-old driver of the Citroen C3 was kept overnight in Darlington Memorial Hospital for observation.

The second driver did not require treatment.

David Glendenning, watch manager at Darlington Fire and Rescue, said had the men not been helped they would surely have died.

"My understanding is there had been a car heading into Darlington on the A68 which lost control, came across the carriageway, and collided with a car coming in the opposite direction, " he said.

"On collision, the cars had ignited and both were totally destroyed by fire.

"By the time we got there, the cars were so far gone because of the fire that if someone had still been inside they would have had no chance."

Shock figures revealed that 2,000 public-sector jobs were being lost in the region every month sparked calls for the Government to halt the cull, in October 2011.

Ministers were warned that the scale of the losses was dwarfing predictions, while the private sector is failing to create jobs because the economy was in "such a fragile condition".

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said the result was rising unemployment and benefit bills, blowing a hole in the Government's strategy to cut the gaping budget deficit.

6,000 public-sector jobs were lost in the North-East between April and June – and 10,000 were lost in Yorkshire.

16,000 public-sector jobs were lost in the North-East – one in every 18 employees – between July last year and June 2011.

The clock was turned back to remember the crucial role Britain's railways played during the Second World War. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway returned to the dark days of the 1940s for its annual wartime weekend.

Finally, as part of its centenary celebrations, the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough was illuminated upwards in 91 seconds – representing the 91 weeks it took to build.

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