PARAMEDICS were called to two incidents within minutes of each other in Blackburn town centre yesterday.

They first attended when a man apparently collapsed in Railway Road.

Moments later, around 50 yards up the road, a man and woman were involved in an accident with a taxi.

In the first incident, which happened around 12.20pm, Sohel Vaid, manager at Sound As A Pound, left his shop to see if he could help.

He said: “As he was crossing the road, the man had a fit. A member of the public called the ambulance and I went out to see if he was all right. I provided a blanket and made sure he was fine. He had a bump to the head, but he seemed OK.”

The man was taken into the back of the ambulance in a wheelchair.

Around 10 minutes later, as the paramedics checked the first casualty, the couple were in an accident with a taxi. The pair were crossing from the Morrisons side of the street towards the cathedral when the black cab, which was carrying a woman in the back, collided with them at a slow speed. The man got up almost immediately, but the woman was sitting in the road.

Another ambulance was called but the woman did not need to be taken to hospital.

A witness said: “I saw the ambulance for the first man. All of a sudden, a taxi came round the corner and hit the couple. It was really shocking to see and I hope everybody is OK.”