TWO men injured in a dramatic crash that saw a car destroyed by fire are appealing to find a Good Samaritan who helped save their lives.

Construction workers Jamie Meatheringham and Christopher Neal, both of Cheney Manor, sustained whiplash injuries and severe bruising when a Ford Focus Zetec collided with their Ford Transit van in Thamesdown Drive on Tuesday morning.

The pair were travelling to Oxford with three colleagues from construction firm Milbrooke when the crash happened, between the A419 junction and Thresher Drive, near Aldi.

Wiltshire Police have confirmed they are investigating the cause of incident.

Meanwhile, Jamie and Christopher are now looking for their "guardian angel", the driver of the third vehicle involved, who they say prevented further tragedy when his quick thinking prevented their van careering into oncoming traffic.

Due to the force of the collision, which occurred as the van went between traffic lights, Jamie said the van was pushed into a busy dual carriageway and the driver selflessly manoeuvred his Benz between the vehicle and more traffic.

Jamie, 35, who was driving the van, said: “It all happened so quickly. One minute we were talking, the next we were being pushed down the road 50 or 60 feet.

“When our van started drifting into traffic it touched a silver Mercedes. The driver of the vehicle then deliberately put his car in front of ours and stopped it going into traffic on the dual carriageway. He brought it to a stop. Then he checked on us and called the emergency services.

“He must have been pretty shaken up himself and his car was pretty damaged but his first concern was us. I can’t thank him enough. He stopped things being a lot worse.”

Jamie said the driver of the Focus managed to escape the car before it became engulfed in flames but was injured.

“Pretty much instantly, the car went up in flames, then I thought our van must be on fire too. I’d never been so scared,” he said.

“I could see the driver of the Ford lying on the floor next to his car, I don’t know how he jumped clear. He was holding his chest and stomach. He was badly hurt.”

Chris, 31, said he could only think of his nine-year-old daughter in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

“All I could hear was howling and screaming,” he said.

“It could have been so much worse that’s what gets me.

“I’ve got a daughter and for a second I thought this might take me away from her. It just doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened," he said.

“We’re all fathers, we all have wives, and all that could’ve been gone in a split second.”

Two of the passengers required immediate hospital treatment, with Jamie and Chris signed off work for the foreseeable future.

A South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust spokesman said: “We received a call at 6.28am on Tuesday, June 16 to reports of an road traffic collision on Thamesdown Drive. There were three vehicles involved.

“There were eight casualties at the scene, six of them had minor injuries. The two other passengers had head injuries and were taken straight to the Great Western Hospital for treatment.”

Are you the driver of the silver Mercedes Benz, or do you know the driver? Call the newsdesk on 01793 501797.