A woman was rescued by firefighters after her car started to roll down a hill in Shaldon when the handbrake failed.

The ‘distressed’ driver said she could not get out of the vehicle because she had to keep her foot on the brake pedal as the handbrake was faulty.

Her drama unfolded in the rear car park of The Ness pub on Friday evening.

The Teignmouth fire crew responding to the 999 call at 6.30pm used chocks to hold the car in place while the woman was relieved of her ordeal.

A fire spokesman said afterwards: ‘She was very distressed but otherwise uninjured.’