DRIVERS have been warned to be careful of black ice after a teenager had a lucky escape when his car hit a wall.

Emergency services were called out to the incident on the B5053 at Bottomhouse, near Leek, at 6.55am yesterday.

They found a car which had hit a wall 300 yards away from the Green Man Inn.

Firefighters had to be called in to cut away the door of the car to get the driver out.

The man, believed to be in his late teens, suffered back and neck injuries, but a spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said it could have been much worse.

He added: "Considering the amount of damage to the vehicle in the crash, the man was fortunate not to have suffered more serious injuries."

The man was put on a spinal board and fitted with a neck collar before being taken to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Wayne Bowcock, from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "With the temperatures dropping again we'd urge drivers to take extra care, particularly on untreated roads – ice isn't always visible to the naked eye."