EIGHT people cheated death by less than a second on Boxing Day when a massive tree landed on top of their cars as gales left a trail of destruction across Bolton.

The horrific accident came after police issued a severe weather warning over the weekend, forecasting hazardous driving conditions with torrential rain and gale force winds.

The accident on Walkden Road happened as two vehicles travelled towards Worsley just after 9pm.

A 100-foot tree, uprooted by the high winds, fell and landed on top of the two cars - one a Ford Escort carrying three people and a Ford Mondeo taxi with five people inside.

Firefighters who attended the scene say the people involved were extremely lucky and cheated death by less than a second.

Sub officer Shaun Higson told the BEN: "There is no doubt that we could have been taking dead bodies out of the cars. But luckily, by the time we got there, the people inside had managed to get out."

Firefighters treated the eight people, who had all suffered slight injuries, until paramedics arrived. They were all taken to Hope Hospital for check-ups.

The tree and the debris from the cars completely blocked the road and a highways official and a tree surgeon had to be called before it could be reopened.

Sub officer Higson added: "The tree was far too big for us to remove by ourselves so we just had to make it safe. A tree surgeon came to chop it up so it could be moved. It was at least 100 feet tall and some of the branches were about two feet in diameter. "

The severe weather conditions over the weekend brought chaos to the area. As strong gusts blew across the town, firefighters from Greater Manchester Fire Service were called out to 20 emergencies - three of them serious and weather related.

A crew from Bolton Central Fire Station was called out to make a chimney safe at a house in Manchester Road at 9pm after damage from wind.

A large branch also crashed onto a conservatory of a house in Sunnadale Drive, Deane. Firefighters were called to make it safe, but damage was limited because the roof took most of the impact.

Nationally thousands of homes are still without electricity today following the weekend storms which claimed four lives with another man feared dead after being swept out to sea.

Forecasters have warned that further gales were likely to hit western Britain from tonight.

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