THREE youngsters hurt in a fairground accident are recovering in hospital.

The teenagers were injured when a ride at Hartlepool broke free, hurling passengers into the air and hitting a bystander.

The youngsters were named as Stacey Moorhead, 14, David Mole, 15, and Paul Wilkinson, 17.

Paul, of Pounder Place, and David, of Jones Road, both Hartlepool, were said by Hartlepool General Hospital to be comfortable, while Stacey was "stable and comfortable" in intensive care.

She suffered a punctured lung, broken rib and broken collar bone when the ride car came adrift at the Town Moor fair.

The Super Bob Ride, run by showman Gilbert Findlay, was closed and is being examined by the Health and Safety Executive to try and identify the cause of Monday's accident.

The fair has been running since 1924 and one person was killed at the event in 1985. It is supported by a carnival, run separately by the Headland Town Council.

Council community development officer Pauline Pounder said: "This has been a great shock to us and the Headland community. The carnival is continuing to the end of the weekend as planned. We were ready to shut down if the community had wanted, but there's no indication of that.

"I have also known Stacey's mother, Jill, for a while and she was clear that she and her family looked forward and enjoyed the carnival, so she also wanted it to continue."

Meanwhile, Ms Purchon, of St Cuthbert Street, Hartlepool, appealed yesterday for a mystery woman who helped to rescue her daughter to come forward.

The woman was first on the scene and even rang the hospital to see how Stacey was.

Ms Purchon said Stacey could not remember much about the accident, but was very worried about her friends and kept asking about them.

The damaged fair ride was reported to have been removed yesterday.