A MAN has told how he risked electrocution to pull three teenagers from the wreckage of their car after a road accident.

The female driver of the silver Peugeot 306 lost control in Bedale Road, Scotton, near Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, on Thursday night.

The car left the road, knocked over an electricity pole and demolished a garden wall.

Motorcycle racer and mechanic Greg Lambert, 36, from Scotton, was walking his dog nearby when the accident happened.

He ran to the scene after hearing a loud bang to find a live electricity cable arcing on the car.

The vehicle was on its side and the driver, along with another young woman and a young man, were trapped inside.

Mr Lambert said: "I knew I had to try to get them out as the power cable was sparking and there was petrol everywhere. I though it would explode at any moment.

"I managed to rive one of the doors open and pull them out. At one point a power cable hit me, so I put my foot on it."

When firefighters from Richmond arrived the teenagers had been freed. They moved the car after the power supply had been switched off.

Two of the teenagers were taken to the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, with minor injuries.

Mr Lambert, who has recently opened a motorcycle repair shop in the village, said: "They were really lucky to get away without more serious injuries."

District councillor Pat Middlemiss, who lives in Scotton, said: "It is an extremely fast and dangerous road. We have asked for 30mph signs to be put back further out of the village to give motorists more warning, but, so far, nothing has been done."

The accident meant hundreds of homes were left without power for several hours.

A spokesman for NEDL said: "We received reports at 9pm that an accident involving an electricity pole had resulted in 275 customers in Scotton and Catterick Garrison losing their supply. Power was restored at 3am.