A TEENAGE boy was taken to hospital after being hit by a bus in Colne.

The youngster was left lying face down in the middle of Albert Road, near the Marsden Building Society following the accident involving a single-decker bus at about 4.20pm.

Police were forced to close the road and rush hour drivers reported long delays through the town.

The boy was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Manchester for treatment. Colne councillor Dorothy Lord, of Earl Street, said: “It happened at the top of my street and when my husband got home he said there was mayhem with the traffic.

“I went up there and heard that a young lad had been knocked down and the road was all cordoned off. There were skid marks on Albert Road so the bus driver had obviously tried to stop, and it looked like it happened above the crossing.

“The road is usually very slow at that time and the traffic only crawls up the road.

“Police told me the boy had gone to hospital but he was conscious. It didn’t sound like he had serious injuries and I hope he’s all right. You don’t want to see things like that, especially with a child.”