A YOUNG man has died after hijacking a taxi at knifepoint, then driving the vehicle over a 120ft cliff.

Taxi driver Brian Tate had a knife held to his throat and was forced from his cab by the man - who minutes later crashed the black Nissan Primera through cliff-top barriers.

The dead man has been named as Stephen Paul Heslop, 22, of Lincoln Road, South Shields, South Tyneside.

Mr Tate, 41, had been parked up at the Marsden Grotto car park, in South Shields, when his car was stolen at 7.20pm on Boxing Day and driven towards Whitburn, along the A183 Coast Road.

Mr Tate rang the police to report the robbery, but, six minutes later, witnessed his car plunge over the edge opposite the nearby Marsden Rock, a notorious suicide blackspot.

Mr Heslop was cut free from the wreckage and taken to South Tyneside District Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

John Reay, crew manager at South Shields fire station, said: "The car had gone through the barriers and had landed on its roof at some point and then came to rest on its wheels.

"We had to cut off the vehicle's roof, which had been compressed. There was a male in his 20s inside and he had not survived. It was unfortunate."

David Osguthorpe, a colleague of Mr Tate at Marsden Taxis, said: "The driver has had to go off work. He went straight to the police station and then home.

"Everything Brian had was in his car, including his keys and his phone. He is a good friend of mine, so I will have to see him and make sure he is OK."

Another driver, working at a rival firm, added: "It is a terrible thing to happen. It was a hell of a shock for the driver.

"What a way to go. You have to be thankful that he didn't take the taxi driver with him."

The wrecked taxi was recovered from the beach more than three hours after the crash and has been taken away by police.

Witnesses to the crash are asked to call police on 08456-043-043.