A PERSON was rescued from a burning car moments before it erupted into flames.

A driver was pulled out of the wreckage shortly after a collision between two cars on a country lane near Winchester last night.

Crew manager Vince Barnes, of Winchester Fire Station, said today: “Someone dragged a person out just before it got engulfed. If the person had been in the car they would not be here today. The car was well alight when we got there.”

The collision between a Skoda Octavia and a Ford happened at about 6.30pm on Belmore Lane near Owslebury about half a mile east of the Longwood crossroads.

The two drivers were taken to hospital by ambulance. Their conditions were unavailable. The identity of the passers-by who rescued the driver was unknown.

Two fire crews attended from Winchester, one of them retained. One of the vehicles was completely destroyed. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and two hose reels extinguished the fire by about 7.20pm.