POLICE are appealing for witnesses to a road accident in which a woman was pulled from her car by a passer-by before it caught fire.
A Nissan Almera was travelling in a south-west direction on an unclassified road between Kirk Merrington and Chilton, in County Durham, at around 8.15am yesterday.
It is thought that the driver, a 49-year-old local woman, swerved off course and into a tree because the road was icy and she was dazzled by the low sun.
A passer-by stopped to help her from the vehicle before it caught fire.
The woman was airlifted to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, were she is still being treated for a severe cut to the head, a broken chest bone and broken right arm.
Her condition has this morning been described as improving.
Witnesses to the incident are asked to contact Durham police's accident investigation unit on 0191-3752159.
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