A TEENAGE girl was fighting for her life today after a horrific crash in a suspected stolen car which left one man dead.

Jade Hopson's stepfather told how his family were maintaining a vigil at the Colne teenager's hospital bedside amid fears she may be paralysed.

Police said the 17-year-old, who is three-months pregnant, was a passenger in a BMW that crashed on the A590 between Bouth and Greenodd in Cumbria on Friday and which officers suspect had been stolen.

Jade and a 29-year-old man were pulled from the car's mangled wreckage and taken to Furness General Hospital, suffering from serious injuries.

Police divers later found the body of a 30-year-old Barrow man in a river running alongside the road. It appears he was flung from the car.

His details have not yet been released until officers have told all members of his family.

The crash happened at 4.30am, but the man's body was not discovered until Friday afternoon after police became aware he was missing.

A 29-year-old Colne man was yesterday arrested on the suspicion of dangerous driving, stealing a car and petrol from an East Lancashire garage.

Police said Jade, who was due to start a catering course at Nelson and Colne College today, was seriously ill and being treated for a fractured spine.

Her stepfather Craig Johnson, of Cotton Court, Colne, said: "As soon as I heard about the accident I just felt numb, Jade's mum, Lisa, is at the hospital with Jade.

"Jade has had to be sedated but she has said several words. She said mum' and there's too many people' when the nurses were looking after her.

"She became agitated and anxious so they had to sedate her to calm her down.

"Jade knows her mum is there. She tries to squeeze her mum's fingers. Her mum has been at her side. We don't know if she will walk again.

"Jade is the priority at the minute but we don't know if the baby is going to be ok.

"We were going to support her all the way. My wife loves babies.

"We will have to wait and see what happens. She hadn't even had her first scan. The first scan she had was at the hospital after the accident."

Inspector Malcolm Woodhouse, of Cumbria police, said: "There have been serious accidents in that area over the years and it is subject to traffic calming measures, a similar accident happened at that location a few years ago."