A couple told how they leapt from their moving Land Rover after it burst into flames on a busy main road in Huddersfield.

The brakes on the Land Rover Discovery failed and the couple opened the doors and jumped to safety.

Firefighters praised the quick-thinking driver who slowed the 4x4 by pulling on the handbrake and steering into the kerb.

Within seconds of the couple bailing out the car had come to a halt and burst into flames. The vehicle was completely destroyed.

The blaze broke out as the P-registered vehicle travelled down Bradford Road in Bradley towards the Asda roundabout at around 7.15am on Thursday.

Burnt out Land Rover, near Asda, Bradford Road, Huddersfield.

The couple in the car, a 24-year-old man who was driving and his 19-year-old partner, had come from Halifax and were heading into Huddersfield.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “It was terrifying. We were just driving down the road when we saw smoke.

“At first my partner thought it was coming from behind us but it was coming from the front. Within a split second the car was filled with smoke and my partner put the brakes on but they didn’t work.

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“He pulled the handbrake on and the full lock on the steering and turned into the kerb.

“I saw flames beneath my feet and my partner said: ‘Jump!’ I opened the door and we both jumped out. Five seconds later the car hit the kerb and stopped.”

The couple wanted to grab possessions from the car but were fought back by the smoke.

They flagged down a passing lorry driver who had a powder extinguisher but the flames had already taken hold.

The couple escaped unhurt and the woman said: “Both of us have a child and we are just thankful neither of them were with us.”

Fire crews from Rastrick tackled the blaze and watch commander Peter Bostock praised the driver and said: “He did well to do what he did.

“They did well to get the vehicle into the side of the road and get out as quickly as they could.

“His actions saved it from being a more serious incident.”

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Burnt out Land Rover, near ASDA, Bradford Road, Huddersfield.