AN elderly woman had a lucky escape after her Smart car crashed into a brick wall in Ramsbottom.

The driver, believed to be aged in her 70s, lost control of the vehicle, causing it to collide with the six-foot wall in Central Street at around 12.30pm last Thursday (July 2).

She reportedly escaped with only "bumps and bruises" and was assisted out of the car by onlookers before fire crews and police officers arrived on the scene.

The wall, jointly owned by Ramsbottom Music Centre and The Chocolate Cafe, was quickly established as unsafe and a construction company was called in to remove it.

Assistant manager of Ramsbottom Music Centre, Kirsty Munro, said: “We heard a noise almost as if a lorry had driven over a massive bump; it was like a loud crumbling sound.

“We ran out and at first all I could see was the rubble and then a small car lodged into the remaining brick wall and a woman sitting behind the wheel.

“She was very shook up.

"The wall had crumbled and the iron gate had shifted about six foot towards The Chocolate Cafe."

Music centre owner Steve Barlow added: “We had to close for a few hours when the police and fire crews arrived and with the work now going on at the back, it’s going to make deliveries very difficult as they usually come through the courtyard.

“The most important thing is that the woman is okay. At the end of the day, it’s a damaged brick wall and an iron gate which can be fixed.”