THE brave response of two former servicemen on passing an accident scene earned them £500 each yesterday.

Taxi driver Nick Worthington, 32, and probation officer Jim Brightwell, 37, came upon a burning car last October.

They pulled up at the scene, in Seaham Grange, east Durham, and managed to pull out the badly injured driver and an unconscious passenger.

Mr Worthington kicked away the dislodged petrol tank and flagged down passing vehicles, from one of which he got a fire extinguisher to quell the flames.

Meanwhile, Mr Brightwell reassured a badly injured passenger trapped in the back of the car, until emergency services arrived.

The stolen Ford Orion had left the road near the B1285 junction with the A1018.

All three occupants were treated in hospital for their injuries.

The driver, a Wearside man in his twenties, was later jailed for 18 months and banned from driving for three years.

One of the teenage passengers was given a two-year supervision order and disqualified from driving for a year, and the other was conditionally discharged and given a two-year motoring ban.

Following the Durham Crown Court hearing earlier this year, Judge Beatrice Bolton praised Mr Worthington and Mr Brightwell and awarded them each £500 from the public purse.

The men returned to court yesterday to be presented with certificates of commendation and cheques from the High Sheriff of County Durham, Richard Coad.

Mr Brightwell said his years in the Military Police stood him in good stead for the incident.

Both he and Mr Worthington, a former light infantryman, played down their role and said they were just glad to be able to help.