THE occupants of a car had a lucky escape after their vehicle careered into a tree and burst into flames in Wantage on Monday.

Crews from Wantage and Didcot Fire Stations arrived at the scene in Harcourt Road to find the car ablaze at around 9pm.

With initial information suggesting someone could still be trapped in the vehicle, firefighters forced entry into the car to try and identify if anyone remained in the wreckage.

However, after finding the car empty crews were able to extinguish the flames.

Oxford Mail:

South Central Ambulance Service were also called to the scene, however, one of the occupants had already left the scene, whilst a second occupant had not suffered any serious injury.

Incident Commander, crew manager Stuart McDowall from Wantage Fire Station said: “Firefighters worked quickly and efficiently on arrival to extinguish the fire, and are grateful that no one was trapped in the car.

"The occupants were incredibly fortunate to have managed to release themselves from the wreckage after the impact with the tree.

"The subsequent fire was extremely intense, and destroyed the vehicle.”

Thames Valley Police are investigating.