A JOURNALIST and veteran fire officer attending a spectacular car crash outside Shaldon escaped with their lives when they were caught up in a second road accident at the scene.

Senior Torquay-based reporter Colleen Smith and Teignmouth Fire Station commander Ian Radford both managed to jump out of the way before a Renault Clio ploughed into the back of a fire appliance early on Monday afternoon.

The damaged engine was one of three at the spot where a 95-year-old driver and his car ended up suspended on the roof of a property just outside Shaldon on the coast road to Torquay.

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