A CAR driver died when he was crushed against a garage pillar as he tried to jump start his car down a steep road.

Neighbours said widower Thomas Maxwell, 57, of Cherry Crescent, Rawtenstall, was half-in and half-out of his L-registered Rover two series car when it went out of control on Cherry Tree Lane.

It then crossed Bury Road and struck the garden wall of a house before ending up in the garage at Jack and Eileen Fletcher's home in Bury Road.

Mrs Fletcher, 72, had been working at Rawtenstall Citizens' Advice Bureau and normally her husband Jack would have left her and gone back home.

Fortunately, yesterday morning he stayed with his wife. They said most mornings they would have been in the front garden and their car would have been in the driveway -- exactly where Mr Maxwell and his vehicle ended up.

Mrs Fletcher said: "My neighbours were in and they said he was half-in and half-out of the car when it went out of control and he was trapped in the car somehow when it swerved down the road.

"He was alive when my neighbours went to help him and they called the police and the ambulance but he had died when they arrived.

"Maybe if he had been in the car he would have been able to steer it out of the way." Mr Fletcher, 62, said: "We feel very sorry for the man. It was very sad."

The garage's pillars have cracked with the impact and the door was demolished.

The structure will probably have to be demolished and rebuilt.

Mr Maxwell has lived in a flat in Cherry Crescent, Rawtenstall, for about six years with his son Derek, who is in his 30s.

Neighbour Pamela Cannon said: "I have been here for seven years and Thomas was a likeable guy and he was a friend who would do anything to help you.

"It is such a shock. It is so sad. I can't believe it has happened and it has knocked me for six."

She said another son of Mr Maxwell's, who lived in Scotland, was coming to Lancashire today.

Insp Dave Shepherd, head of the Pennine police division road traffic unit at Colne said: "Our officers are still investigating but it would appear to have been a tragic accident.

"It does not appear that any other vehicle was involved and that the car collided with a garage wall."

Police were alerted by the ambulance service at 10.18am yesterday.

They are appealing for witnesses to the accident to contact the road policing unit on 01282 472431.

They should leave their details on the answer machine if there is no-one there to take the call or to ring Burnley police on 01282 425001.