Women and baby taken to hospital after car hits shopfront in Blackburn

The incident happened at the junction of Heys Lane and Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, at around 11.50am on Tuesday.

The black Ford Ka ploughed into the front of the shop after a crash with a silver Volkswagen.

The Ford then lost control and careered into the front of Livesey News destroying the shopfront.

There were no customers in the shop at the time.

One witness,,who lives on Livesey Branch Road, said: "The silver car went all the way around the roundabout and hit the black car.

"She then went into the front of the shop."

Fire crews and paramedics were called and police closed the road for around two hours.

The two women and the baby were taken to hospital in an ambulance for check-ups.

The driver of the silver car, a man in his twenties, was not thought to have been injured in the crash.

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Owner of the shop, Yunus Bangue, who is known to his regulars as Joe, said: "My wife and I were having a cup of tea in our house next door and we heard a loud bang.

"We went out to see what happened and there was a car in the shop. Luckily no-one was seriously hurt and there was no-one in the shop at the time, but I was panicking and I'm very shaken up."

Mr Bangue's wife, Abeda, said: "The women in the car had been helped out by some neighbours and they came into the house and we gave them some water while we waited for the ambulance. They were panicking.

"I just can't believe it. I'm shocked and a bit shaken up. Everyone round here comes in our shop and we know all our regulars; I just don't know what we're going to do now."

Mr Bangue said that there's been numerous accidents on that stretch of Livesey Branch Road in the 20 years they have been there and he thinks there should be more traffic calming measures put in place.

He added: "They should put traffic lights there or something. It's going to cost more for hospitals to treat people after an accident than it would to put some lights up."

A police spokesperson said: "Both women suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital via ambulance.

"The baby and the driver of the other car are not thought to have been hurt."

Livesey Branch Road was re-opened to traffic at around 2pm but the section of the pavement in front of the shop was cordoned off until highways were able to attend.

The fire service attended in order to assess any structural damage to the building but left the scene once they had deemed it to be safe.