A FAMILY turned detective in a bid to identify the driver of a car that smashed into a dad's pickup truck outside his home.

CCTV footage shows the moment a red Peugeot crashes into the back of Andy Howarth's pickup truck in Whalley Road, Read, sending debris flying before it drives off.

The footage, captured just after 6.30pm on Wednesday, has been viewed more than 28,000 times after being shared on Facebook by Mr Howarth and his daughters Laurel and Lacie.

Just a few hours after it was posted online the family were contacted by someone who believed they had identified the owner.

Mr Howarth, who owns window installation service ADH Glazing, uses the truck for work.

He said: "I was just at home and my wife Lisa heard a bang outside.

"We did not think anything of it but 20 minutes later a friend that was passing called me and said 'have you noticed your van?'

"I went back and looked at the CCTV.

"I was quite surprised how hard it had hit it and I couldn't believe they would just drive away.

"The footage shows a truck going past afterwards so I rang the haulage company. They had some dash cam film that shows the driver indicated after hitting it but they must have had a second thought and decided to set off again."

The 50-year-old said he thinks the collision caused hundreds of pounds of damage, including to one of the springs, the tail light and some scratches, although there was more damage to the other car.

"I was shocked. You do not expect it. You expect people to be decent and perhaps knock on the door," he said.

"My company's phone number is on the side of the van so it would not have been hard to do.

"My daughters put the appeal on Facebook and I put it on my own page and it had thousands of views.

"My daughter got a message from someone in the morning giving an address of the owner."

Mr Howarth took the wing mirror of the Peugeot, which had been knocked off in the incident, to the address and saw a 'really damaged' car on the driveway.

"A woman answered the door and denied all knowledge. She said it was nothing to do with her as it was her daughter's car," he said.

"I gave them an opportunity to sort it out without going to the police and I got told I was intimidating and should leave the premises.

"I walked away with the wing mirror and went straight to the police station."

Mr Howarth said he usually parks in a car park but was parked on the road so it was closer to the house because his elderly father-in-law was visiting.

The road is used as a thoroughfare between Clitheroe and Burnley.

The family praised the response of people on Facebook.

Mr Howarth said: "Social media is so powerful. It is good for some things and bad for others and in this case it has been a big help.

"I have been sent lots of pictures of red cars and people phoning me saying they are driving behind the car.

"It shows people want to help and there's a lot of decent people out there."

Lacie, 25, said: "I am so thankful to have my social media account and my social circle who all contributed in sharing and posting our camera footage as far as Chorley and Manchester.

"If it wasn't for social media we would not have been able to track down the vehicle and the driver.

"I am truly humbled with the help we received."

A police spokeswoman said: "The incident has been reported to us and that an investigation is underway."

Anyone with information should call police on 101.