AN under-age driver was still critical on Sunday after a stolen car smashed head on into a tree on Friday night.

The 15-year-old boy from Radcliffe, who has not been named, underwent emergency surgery for head and chest injuries after losing control of a Ford Escort on Hulme Road, Stoneclough.

A 16-year-old boy passenger suffered non life threatening head injuries and lost part of a finger in the crash at 11.40pm near the junction with Hall Road.

The finger was recovered from the road by an off duty nurse and taken with the teenager to hospital but it is not known whether surgeons were able to successfully rejoin it.

The accident happened when the driver of the car, which had been stolen earlier in the day from Bolton, lost control going through a traffic calming chicane on Hulme Road and hit a tree head on.

His 16-year-old passenger and three 15-year-old girls, one of whom is the older boy's sister, are all from Radcliffe.

One girl suffered a broken leg in the crash and the two others were allowed home after treatment for minor injuries in the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Surgeons at Pendlebury Children's Hospital are battling to save the driver, who is described as being in a "critical" condition.

Police investigating the crash want to speak to any witnesses.

Anyone with information should contact PC Ian Beaumont on 0161 856 5972.