GARAGE engineer Ian Whalley and gas engineer David Dean were thanked by a coroner for preventing a village catastrophe in Cliviger.

The couple fought to turn off an underground gas supply tap after a car embedded itself into a garage gable wall, fracturing a gas pipe.

Village bobby, PC Glynn Grey, was also thanked by East Lancashire Coroner, David Smith, for pulling two people free from the burning wreck.

Driver, 19-year-old Simon Andrew McCoskery, of Red Lees Road, Cliviger, died from multiple injuries suffered in the accident on October 2 last year.

He was driving a Peugeot 205 GTi belonging to a friend, Lee Wayne Smith, of Deerpark Road, Burnley.

Mr Smith, a motor mechanic, said he was in the Thornton Arms public house when Simon asked if he could borrow his car, which he had left on the driveway of his home.

When asked by Simon's mother why he had loaned him the car when he knew Simon was uninsured and had had his own car keys taken from him by his father, he said he thought he was doing Simon a favour in letting him pick up his girlfriend and that Simon had only been drinking orange. The Coroner said that in fairness the same question could be asked of the driver, who knew his parents did not want him to drive.

Lee Smith said he couldn't remember anything about the accident.

Witnesses told of the car going out of control and travelling sideways down the road before hitting the garage wall.

PC Grey and motorist Richard De' Boutermard estimated the car's speed at 80mph.

PC Grey said when he first went to the car both occupants were unconscious but breathing normally.

He did not want to move them because of their injuries. Fire then broke out and when someone said there was a gas leak he and others got the two men free from the car.

Ian Whalley, owner of Brookside Garage, said he immediately smelled gas but could not get at the tap to turn off the supply.

He was then helped by David Dean. They found the underground tap and turned if off.

Mr Whalley said he was frightened of an explosion. He said he opened the garage doors and was told people could see a giant fireball of gas move off towards Todmorden.

Accident investigator, PC David Aitchison, said the vehicle, which was in good mechanical order was travelling at 44-53mph, at the point of the tyre marks.

He had carried out tests and had stopped trying to take the bends at 50mph.

He said: "The reason for the accident was pure speed.''

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Smith said it could only be put down to driver error.

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