TWO people had a lucky escape after their car left the road and burst into flames at 10pm on Monday.

A man in his 20s and a 16-year-old girl, both from Doxford Park, Sunderland, were freed by firefighters and taken to the city's Royal Hospital for treatment.

The Mitsubishi Galant they were travelling in went off the road at St Aidan's Terrace, New Herrington, ploughed through a fence and travelled through two gardens before ending up on its roof.

The car started burning, but residents came to the trapped couple's aid and one used a garden hose to douse the flames.

The teenager suffered head injuries and the driver a broken arm, cuts to the head, and concussion.

Firefighter Steve Wayman said: "The car was just a mangled wreck. How it avoided hitting the trees, I do not know. They are very lucky to be alive.''