POLICE are appealing for a mystery witness to come forward after a man who was trapped under a van in Bolton died from his injuries.

Police said Kevin Warr, aged 37, had been crossing Bury Road, Tonge Fold, when he was involved in an accident with a Mercedes van last night.

Firemen were called to free him from underneath the vehicle. He was trapped for several minutes.

Officers are trying to trace Mr Warr's movements in the last hours of his life. He is believed to have been drinking in pubs in the Halliwell Road area before walking home with a friend. Police said the man he was with left him moments before the accident and did not stop at the scene. They are asking the man who was with Mr Warr to contact them.

Mr Warr, who is believed to have lived near the scene of the accident in the Tonge Fold area, was taken to the Bolton Royal Infirmary suffering from extensive injuries, but doctors were unable to save him and he died a short time later.

A post mortem examination was being carried out this afternoon.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident, which happened at 11.30pm near the junction with Hypatia Street, Tonge Fold.

The driver of the van, a 52-year-old man from Motherwell in Scotland, was not hurt. Police sealed off Bury Road until 2am while investigations into the accident were carried out.

Anyone with any information about the accident -- and the friend who was with Mr Warr -- are asked to call the Bolton Police traffic unit on tel: 0161 856 5972.

A woman driver escaped with minor injuries after a tree blew down on to her car in Walshaw, Bury, earlier today. The centre of Walshaw was closed off for two hours while the debris was removed near the junction with High Street.

The accident happened at 7.40am when the woman was driving a VW Golf along the road and high winds felled the tree. A second woman in another car was also treated in hospital for minor injuries.