TWO Leominster men emerged as heroes when they pulled an injured man from a burning car after a horrific fatal collision at Trumpet crossroads, an inquest heard.

Steel erectors, Duncan Morgan and Guy Morgan-Jones were on their way to work in Oxford when they witnessed a head-on accident involving a red BMW and a silver Ford Orion.

The pair could see Jason Raymond Smart, the driver of the silver Orion that had spun round and came to rest in a hedge, was very badly hurt and encased in the metal body of the car.

Mr Morgan-Jones said of Mr Smart, who subsequently died of multiple injuries: "We agreed that he was not in immediate danger from the fire. We made the decision not to get him out - he was well trapped."

Turning their attention to Stephen Roy Jenkins, who was in the smoking BMW, they could see he was in a lot of pain and also trapped.

"We went to the chap in the BMW who was conscious - the guy in the silver car was seriously injured. We managed to get the door open and get the gentleman out of the BMW," continued Mr Morgan-Jones.

The men, together with a lorry driver, attempted to keep the flames under control using a fire extinguisher to try and protect Mr Smart until paramedics arrived.

It had been an ordinary Monday morning for 27-year-old Mr Smart who was on his way to work as a fork lift truck driver from his Putley home when the accident occurred at 7am on September 23 2002.

Emergency services unit manager at the ambulance service, Dominic Robertson, who lives close to the scene, rushed to the incident within nine minutes.

"I could see plumes of black smoke rising in the air. The majority of the car (the BMW) was on fire with flames 15 to 20 foot in the air."

The BMW had received a LPG conversion and concerns were raised over the gas cylinder fitted in the vehicle.

Mr Robertson tried to assist Mr Smart but had to withdraw because the BMW was making 'popping noises' and the paramedic was aware of the gas cylinder in the back. By the time the fire brigade had made the vehicles safe enough for paramedics to get to Mr Smart he was already dead from multiple injuries.

On recording a verdict of accidental death, deputy coroner Mark Bricknell said: "Jason Smart was a young man in the prime of his life getting off to work on a Monday morning, sadly his life was cut short.

"We don't know what caused him to lose control."

Describing Mr Jenkins, a driver from Northwich, as 'blameless' Mr Bricknell continued: "Sadly we are left with a conclusion that Jason did lose control of his vehicle for one reason or another. He left Mr Jenkins little chance to avoid a collision."