TWO Bolton brothers miraculously escaped with their lives when the car they were travelling in left the road and hurtled 100 feet through the air before landing on its roof.

The car clipped the kerb and flew over the top of a steep hillside, rotating as it spectacularly plunged.

Amazingly the passenger, Jonathan Bailey, 19, walked out of the wreckage with just a cut finger.

He pulled his brother, Simon, 21, who had been driving the car, free from the vehicle, fearing it might catch fire.

Simon suffered two fractures to his back and facial lacerations.

But today Sgt Barrie Fairclough, of the Bolton Police Traffic Unit, said: "How the brothers escaped with their lives is an absolute miracle.

"And the fact that Jonathan was able to walk away is just amazing."

The pair, from Bramley Road, Sharples, had been travelling in the red Ford Escort XR3 along Scout Road, from Belmont Road, at 2.45pm on Saturday. They had gone out to buy a present for their father's birthday, which was on the same day.

The pair were only 200 metres from the junction with Belmont Road when the accident happened.

Simon lost control of the vehicle and it clipped the kerbside before taking off on the nearside. The car landed directly on its roof. Fire crews from Bolton and Lancashire were called to the scene, together with paramedics.

The firefighters made sure the car was safe and flipped it over off its roof, while paramedics treated the brothers at the scene.

Simon was placed on a spinal board, and his condition was stabilised before he was carried along a nearby pathway up to the ambulance waiting on the road. He was conscious throughout.

Both were taken to Royal Bolton Hospital. Jonathan was released, while Simon has been detained. Yesterday, he was due to be transferred to Blackburn Royal Infirmary where he is expected to undergo surgery on his facial injuries.

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