WORK colleagues have launched a campaign to help fund treatment for a teenager who suffered brain injuries in an horrific road crash.

Andrew McMinn, 19, was critically injured and has been in a coma since the 4x4 vehicle in which he was a passenger left a road in Clayton-le-Moors and hit a stone wall more than two months ago.

The teenager, of Blake Gardens, Great Harwood, spent eight weeks at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn.

He was then transferred to the Highbank rehabilitation unit in Bury which provides care and rehabilitation for adults and children who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

Now, colleagues at the Slinger Group, the meat supply company where he worked in Great Harwood, are bidding to raise the cash which may be needed for his continuing treatment.

Abattoir manager Jack Hargreaves said: "The unit deals with all kinds of head injuries and has a very good success rate -- but unfortunately it has to be paid for at a cost of £2,000-a-week.

"Funds are desperately needed to to assist in Andrew's speedy recovery."

He said workers were raising money to ensure Andrew continued to receive treatment at the unit after an initial 12-week period. "After that, depending on the improvement he has made, the funding may be partially paid or stopped altogether," Mr Hargreaves explained.

But he said the Slinger Group wanted to help Andrew further and staff will hold a five-mile tractor pull to raise extra cash on the weekend of May 5.

"We are hoping companies will sponsor the event so that we can get together enough funds to ensure Andrew has the best treatment possible," Mr Hargreaves said.

"It's a desperate effort to make Andrew's life as good as ours."

A spokesperson for Highbank rehabilitation unit said: "We cannot discuss individual cases without prior consent from the person's family.

"Funding for treatment varies from patient to patient although it is primarily through the NHS and money for subsequent treatment can be provided by charities, individuals, health trusts the unit or a combination."

The Slinger Group can be contacted on 01254 881717.