A MUM who escaped being struck by a car just seconds before it smashed through her garden wall says she is terrified and may have to move home.

Rachel Ward was only saved after her seven-year-old daughter called for her after she had let her two dogs into the back garden in Pilkington Road, Radcliffe.

Moments later, after the 29-year-old had headed back into the downstairs flat, a black Volkswagen Golf smashed into the outside wall destroying the front garden, fence and shed. The driver fled the scene and has not been seen since.

Now, a week on from the incident, Miss Ward says that she and her daughter Kayla will not feel safe in their own home until changes are made. She wants bollards to be built in front of her house.

She said: “We just don’t feel safe living here and I feel that something has got to be done or I may have to consider moving house.”

Her daughter is now too afraid to go into her own bedroom, which runs out to the front of the house, close to where the wall was smashed into.

“She is supposed to feel safe in her own home, but no longer does,” said Miss Ward. “She has been staying at my Nan’s house for the last two days whilst I have been working. It’s all because of the roundabout, people misjudge it and it just isn’t safe. I feel like something like this was always bound to happen eventually.”

Margaret Dawson, aged 56, who lives in the upstairs flat with her husband Geoff, aged 55, and 25-year-old son Christopher, agreed that there is a safety issue and that the incident could have been much worse.

She said: “I was out with my son at the time and feel very lucky no one was hit. We normally park our cars out front and there are always kids out playing.

“My husband was upstairs and heard the crash. If it had hit the house wall the whole side could have come down.”

Miss Ward, whose front wall will be fixed by Six Town Housing next week, said that if anything good is to come from the incident, it’s the fact that finally the council may take measures to safeguard the roads surrounding the roundabout. She said: “I have put in an application to the council and asked for bollards to be installed which I think would help but something really needs to be done before something similar happens again."

A council spokesman said: “We have every sympathy with the Ward family for whom this must have been a frightening experience.

“This was caused by a driver who decided to pay no respect to the law of the land, the rules of the road or the safety of the local community. He lost control of his vehicle and shot over the mini-roundabout and into the wall."

He added that traffic calming measures have already been taken in the area with the speed limit reduced to 20mph.

"Speed cushions have also been installed in Lowe Street and Pilkington Road and there has not been a single recorded accident here in the last three years.

“This rare incident was not attributable to either the layout or condition of the road, and lining the streets with bollards will not dissuade irresponsible drivers who are determined to be anti-social.”