A MAN has been charged in connection with a crash which left one person dead and a pregnant Colne teenager fighting for her life.

Benjamin David Bird, 29 of Hargeaves Street, Colne, is charged with driving a stolen vehicle, making off without payment from a petrol station, being carried in a stolen vehicle, and having no insurance.

Bird was arrested on Sunday after he was discharged from Furness General Hospital.

He appeared before Barrow magistrates yesterday.

Bird is the boyfriend of Jade Hopson, 17, also of Hargreaves Street, who received serious injuries as a result of the crash.

The couple were travelling in a BMW, which officers suspect had been stolen, that crashed on the A590 between Bouth and Greenodd in Cumbria at around 4.30am on Friday. Jade and Bird were pulled from the wreckage and taken to Furness General Hospital.

Police divers later found the body of 30-year-old Ian Salton in a river which runs near the road. It appears he had been flung from the car.

Jade is three months pregnant and her injuries include fractures to the spine.

Her family are waiting for a scan of Jade's spinal cord which will determine whether she has sustained permanent damage.

Jade's mother, Lisa Johnson, has been at her daughter's bedside since the accident and her stepfather, Craig Johnson, visited her on Sunday.

Mr Johnson, of Cotton Court, Colne, said: "We drove past the place of the accident. It brought tears to my eyes thinking about it. When I went to see her, the first thing she said to me was I love you.' It made me fill up.

"She's still really poorly and we hope she will be transferred to Blackburn hospital soon."

The case was adjourned until next Monday.