A POLICE helicopter was scrambled after a car left a road, crashed through a fence and hit a tree.
Emergency crews used specialist thermal imaging cameras amid fears someone could have staggered off injured from the wreckage.
Fire crews and police were scrambled after the green car, believed to be a Mercedes, had burst into flames.
Fire o
fficers found no-one inside and searched for occupants using a heat seeking camera on the ground, while a police helicopter scoured the area from above.
Crew Manager Michael Corfield, from Peterlee Fire Station said no-one was found in the vehicle.
He said: "A car had left the road and smashed through the trees, through the fence and hit another tree. The car was just in flames as we pulled up.
"We were not sure whether the car was occupied so we quickly extinguished the fire.
"A couple of firefighters searched the area with thermal imaging cameras in case anyone had got out of the car and collapsed. The car was severely damaged."
Police said the incident happened on a stretch of the B1278 between Deaf Hill and Wingate,
Crews were called at 9.40pm on Friday night and stayed at the scene for an hour.
Inspector Kevin Blakey, of Durham Constabulary, said fire crews contacted police at the same time and the origin of the vehicle is being checked by crime scene investigators and appealed for any witness to telephone 0345 606 0365.
