FIRE crews have praised a passing motorist who came to the aid of a driver whose vehicle had caught fire.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said they were called out to the A170 in Wrelton in at about 12.26pm after a car came off the road and hit a tree.

A spokesman for the service said: "This caused the vehicle to catch fire due to the fuel tank rupturing.

"A passing motorist who was first on the scene to the car fire, used a life hammer to break the glass of the vehicle on fire allowing the driver inside to get out.

"Without his intervention and the piece of the equipment the outcome of this incident could have been very different

They added: "Crews extinguished the fire and dampened down the area.

"Crews used hose reel jet, branches, foam and dry powder extinguishers and thermal imaging camera."