A CYCLIST was taken to hospital with a head injury and breathing difficulties after a collision with a car in Rawtenstall.

The man, believed to be in his 50s, was involved in an crash with a yellow Nissan Micra in Burnley Road, at 10.20am on Saturday.

The car, being driven by an elderly woman, was close to the Spar petrol station when the accident happened, witnesses said.

Police closed a stretch of the road for around half an hour.

Witness Ambia Khan, a 19-year-old student teacher who lives near the petrol station, said: “I was looking out of the window when I saw it happen.

“Then I saw the police and paramedics turn up and the cyclist was put on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance.

”The elderly lady looked like she was in shock when she was talking to police.”