TWO pensioners had a lucky escape when a stolen van smashed into their car during a police chase through Bolton.

The elderly women were left shocked in the wreckage of their car as the thieves jumped out of their badly damaged van and fled. They escaped after stealing another vehicle further down the road.

Both pensioners - Nora Hinton, 66, and Edna Clarke, 65, both of Grasmere Avenue, Little Lever - were treated at Royal Bolton Hospital for extreme shock.

The men in the stolen van were being chased by a police officer, who had lost sight of them just moments before the collision at the junction of Manchester Road and Loxham Street, Farnworth.

The accident happened at 1pm yesterday. Police had initially responded to a call to the Worsley Road Industrial Estate in Farnworth, where the stolen white Ford Transit van had been spotted being driven "suspiciously".

When police officers arrived on the scene they saw the van being driven away from the industrial estate at high speed. They chased the van through the streets of Farnworth, but lost sight of it in heavy traffic. Within minutes the van was discovered abandoned at the scene of the accident.

Both the van and Toyota, driven by Nora Hinton, appeared to have been turning right onto Loxham Street when the van ploughed into them.

The police helicopter was called to the scene, but the thieves still managed to escape.

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