Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of robbery after a man was robbed of his car at knifepoint.

On Friday evening police were contacted after a man was threatened at knifepoint in Winterton Road in Darwen before having his car keys and his vehicle stolen.

The car was then seen around half an hour later on Goose House Lane before it crashed into a hedge on Surrey Avenue at the junction with Hollin Grove Street.

All four of the occupants ran off although one was apprehended a short time later.

Police have since confirmed that four boys, two aged 15 and the others aged 16 and 17 were arrested on suspicion of robbery.

Residents in Surrey Avenue were forced onto the street as two police vans and a police car surrounded the car after it crashed.

Late night police chase through Darwen leaves car stuck in hedge

A nearby resident who witnessed the aftermath said: "It was about 10.15pm and I was sat in my back garden and I could hear sirens,.

"Then all of a sudden they got louder and I heard a screech and what sounded like car brakes and then heard a crash.

"I came out of my house to see what had happened as I thought there'd been an accident, and there were police everywhere, at least two vans and another car, and then I saw there was a car with its back end in a hedge."

The resident said she then saw a person run from the vehicle with police chasing him through a garden.

She added: "The man was arrested and put in the back of a police van, which then drove off. But then the police drone went up.

"This is the second time someone has been arrested on this street in the last week, I don't know what's going on in Darwen at the moment."

Lancashire Telegraph: The car was pursued into Surrey Avenue in Darwen after a man was robbed of his keys at knifepoint. Four teenage boys were arrested

A spokesperson for the police said: "We were called at 9.51pm on July 9 to reports a man had been robbed of his car keys at knifepoint in Winterton Road, Darwen, and his vehicle had been taken.

"The vehicle was seen around 30 minutes later in Goose House Lane.

"The vehicle went onto Hollin Grove Street and the occupants ran off, although one was arrested a short time later.

"Four boys, two aged 15 and the others aged 16 and 17, were arrested on suspicion of robbery."

All four teenagers have since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.