A man who witnessed a head-on car crash outside his house said he defied police instructions and helped drag an injured female driver from the burning wreckage.

Junaed Azhar said he heard the collision between a Ford Focus and a Volkswagen Polo on Tuesday night in Huddersfield Road, between Wyke and Moor Side.

READ MORE: Driver 'poorly but stable' after head-on crash

“I live opposite the crash site and I went outside with my neighbour to see what had happened. A police car came on the scene soon after.

“I knew the girl in the Focus and I could see her inside and that the car was on fire.

“The police shouted at us to keep away but we ignored them and smashed a passenger window and dragged her out.

“She was in a bad way and unconscious but I kept talking to her. The air ambulance came and took her to Leeds General Infirmary.”

Mr Azhar said he spoke to the Focus driver’s brother the following day and he told him she had a serious head injury and multiple fractures.

He also said his neighbour had CCTV footage of the crash.

Police closed the road for at least two hours to allow recovery of the vehicles.

In a statement issued yesterday, a police spokesman said they were appealing for witnesses following a serious road traffic collision in Bradford on Tuesday night.

Adrian Smith, 33, who lives in Whytecote End, in Wyke, said he got to the scene of the crash shortly after the accident.

He said: “I heard the commotion and went down to see what was going on.

“There were emergency services and around 40 people behind a cordon the police were putting up.

“I think it was about five or ten minutes after it happened.

“I couldn’t say for definite, but it looked as though someone was being treated on the floor.

“My cousin saw the helicopter land and that took off again at about 9.30pm.

“The road was still closed at 10.30pm.

“I don’t know what happened, but there is a lot of speeding on that road.”

Anyone who witnessed the collision should ring 101, quoting log 1815 of May 15.”