A MUM-of-four has spoken of the terrifying moment she was forced to swerve out of the way of a car heading the wrong way up the M66.

Laura Wylie, aged 33, was driving at 70 miles per hour in the middle lane when suddenly she saw headlights coming towards her and was forced to swerve out of the way at the last minute.

She says that the terrifying experience left her 'shaken up'.

Ms Wylie was returning to her home in Plumpton Drive, Walmersley, at the time after visiting her sister in Oldham, and had just passed the Pilsworth junction when the incident happened at around 10pm last night.

She said: “My brain and instincts kicked in and I swerved my car to the left into the other lane. Luckily, I’m quite a quick thinker because the car missed us by inches. It was so close.

“He just came from nowhere, he was going so fast and made no attempt to move at all. It was the most shocking thing that has ever happened to me.”

Ms Wylie was with her friend Grace Franks at the time, who immediately called the police and ambulance services.

Emergency services arrived at the scene minutes later to find that a silver Vauxhall Astra had crashed into a barrier between Junctions 3 and 4.

Police say that the driver had initially crashed the car while travelling northbound on the M66, near Junction 2.

He then span the car and headed the wrong way down the motorway before hitting the barrier.

Fire crews raced to the scene but the driver did not need to be cut from the vehicle. They then helped to stabilise the car and make the area safe for other motorists.

Crew manager James Chadderton said: "It was very dangerous, what he has done, it was very lucky for him and everyone else on the road that it wasn't more serious. He was going the wrong way for at least a mile."

Police arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs. He remains in custody.

Ms Wylie added: “We were in shock. There were three cars behind me in the distance and I was just hoping that they may have seen him and he wouldn’t crash into them, but it looks like he crashed just after nearly hitting me before getting to them.

“It was terrifying. It really shook me up.

“It has made me a little bit nervous about going out driving again. You don’t expect a car to come the other way up the motorway."