A DRIVER was killed when his car ploughed through a wall and into the side of a house.

Police said the black Chrysler Voyager careered off the road close to the start of the Grane Road, near Belthorn.

The impact wrecked the wall and left the house needing structural attention.

Several drivers travelling behind the 47-year-old man, who was married and lived in Blackburn, stopped to help and dragged him from the car before attempting CPR.

But despite their best efforts, the man who has not yet been named, died as he was taken to hospital.

Witnesses however condemned several drivers who had seen the accident, which happened at 3.30pm, but drove off without offering to help.

Maintenance engineer Andrew Jones, 31, of King Street, Haslingden had been driving towards Haslingden when the accident happened.

He said: “I didn’t hear any noise, all I noticed was traffic starting to slow down ahead of me.

“Then I could see what looked like a coach parked at a funny angle in the road.

“Quickly, I realised there had been an accident and pulled over.

“When I got closer I could see the coach had simply been turning around.

“I was surprised with just how many people didn’t stop to help.

“Most of the vehicles that were directly behind the Chrysler when it crashed just turned around and headed off in the other direction.

“As I got to the scene, the man was being worked on in the road.

“The woman whose house had been crashed into was stood by the side of the road and very shaken. She was saying she and her daughter had been in the house at the time and they had thought there had been an explosion.

“I went inside to try and shut their water off as the mains had been damaged but the ceiling in the kitchen had fallen in making it impossible to get inside.”

Police, paramedics and firefighters were called to the scene close to The Pack bar and restaurant. Later the man’s wife and eldest son visited the scene.

Members of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s urban search and rescue team, which specialises in securing damaged buildings, attended the damaged house.

The Grane Road was closed in both directions for several hours to allow for the recovery of the vehicle and for accident investigators to work out what happened.

Specially trained family liaision officers are supporting the victim’s family.

Police are now appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to come forward.

Insp Ilyas Mohmed, of Blackburn police, said: “I would appeal for anyone who may have seen this collision or the vehicle involved in the time leading up to the collision to call police on 101.”