GRAPHIC images of a teenage boy being cut from a car after a fatal crash have been shown to young drivers on an award-winning road safety scheme.

Liam Richardson, 13, was a passenger in a stolen Vauxhall Astra which crashed in West Cornforth, County Durham, in January last year. The youngster died at the scene.

Hard-hitting footage of the aftermath of the crash is being shown to up to 400 teenage motorists in the eight-day Wise Drive initiative, launched at police headquarters in Durham yesterday.

The youngsters, all aged 16 and from schools across County Durham, will go through a range of workshops and practical experiences designed to educate about driving, buying and maintaining a car.

Their reactions are put to the test on a simulator provided by the British School of Motoring (BSM), they are cut free from the wreckage of a car and find out what it feels like to be in a collision at 5mph.

This is the fifth year of the scheme, but it is the first time the presentation has contained images of a fatal accident in County Durham.

Liam's family, from Ferryhill, gave their permission for the footage to be used in the hope it deters other youngsters.

PC Dave Nixon, Durham Constabulary's road casualty reduction officer, said: "The DVD contains some genuinely shocking images and Liam's family have been very brave to lend their support and allow us to use the footage."