THREE men had a lucky escape early today when the car in which they were travelling went out of control on a bend on the Grane Road.

The car spun round, rolled down a banking and endedup on its side.

It was trapped between a wall and fence half a mile on the Blackburn side of the Grey Mare pub with a fire beneath the bonnet and the petrol tank punctured. The three men, believed to be taxi drivers returning home to the Blackburn area after finishing work in Rossendale, escaped unhurt.

Tony Spencer, a sub-officer from Rawtenstall fire station said: "I think one of the man helped the other two back up to the roadside. They were very lucky indeed."

"Because the petrol tank was punctured we stayed with the vehicle, a Vauxhall Astra or Vectra, until the removal vehicle came and took it away."