Residents extinguish fire after stolen car crashes into house

They said a "significant search" ensued as the man made off after crashing the vehicle near Clady in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"Great work by alert residents in Clady in the early hours of this morning prevented a car theft developing into something a lot more serious," the PSNI said in a social media post.

"We were out looking for a car that had been stolen over in K district (Ballymena’s patch) when we got calls reporting a male trying so set fire to a car that he had crashed into a house near Clady. The male had then made off."

The suspect was eventually arrested and taken into custody.

"Special mention goes to quick thinking locals who pulled the car away from the house and extinguished the fire before it took hold," added the post.