CAR crash survivors have paid tribute to firefighters who left their picket line to help them.

Striking firefighters in County Durham left the protest to help other emergency services rescue four people trapped inside two cars.

Now that all the passengers are on the road to recovery, they want to thank the rescue team and passers-by who helped them.

Norman Dale, said: "We want to wish them a happy Christmas and New Year because, thanks to them, we will have just that.

"It was a very frightening experience and one we are lucky to have survived, that is why we want to say thanks to everyone who helped us through it."

Mr Dale, 53, and his friends Clifford Metcalfe and William McCormick, all from Spennymoor, were in a Ford Fiesta.

The car was involved in a collision with a Fiat Punto, driven by a 35-year-old Ferryhill woman, on the A167 between Rushyford and Newton Aycliffe, on Saturday, November 23.

Striking firefighters from Aycliffe station went to the scene at the same time as a Green Goddess crew and freed two of the men.

The Great North Air Ambulance flew 55-year-old Mr Metcalfe to Stockton's University Hospital suffering from a ruptured diaphragm and shattered kneecap. He was in intensive care for five days.

Mr McCormick, 60, was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham with chest injuries and Mr Dale was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital with a head wound.

Mr Dale said: "We are so grateful that the firefighters came off the picket line to help the Green Goddess crew, paramedics and police.

"It was really frightening but with their professionalism and the kindness of people who stopped to comfort us while we were in shock, we are thankfully making good recoveries."

An RAF unit from Durham freed the driver of the second car, who spent two days recovering at the University Hospital of North Durham.