A PREGNANT woman escaped a terrifying car crash with only minor injuries after three good Samaritans came to her aid.

The 38-year-old was driving a Toyota on the westbound M61 towards St Peter's Way and Bolton at 8.20am on Friday when she clipped a lorry, sending her car spinning.

It came to rest on a grass verge, as did a Citroen DS3, whose driver Nicole Miller, had to slam on her brakes to avoid getting hit.

Miss Miller, aged 31, of Irlam, described how the crash caused the Toyota driver to lose consciousness.

"I dialled 999 to call for an ambulance, but it took them about 25 minutes to arrive — and 45 minutes for the police — because of rush-hour traffic," said Miss Miller, an advertising sales executive at The Bolton News.

She added: "A St John Ambulance volunteer saw what was going on and pulled over and an off-duty paramedic stopped too.

"They directed traffic and gave the woman first aid before the ambulance arrived.

"Our first thought was the welfare of the woman who was unconscious."

Police spoke to the lorry driver at the scene and closed the road for about 20 minutes while they cleared debris from the road.

The road fully reopened at about 9.20am and it took another 20 minutes for traffic flow to return to normal.

Police said the pregnant woman had been taken to hospital and was treated for a back strain, but was otherwise unhurt.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "We were called to junction 2 of M61 at 8.36am on Friday after a report was made about a road traffic collision.

"There was a minor injury to one of the person involved."