Motorists urged to take care following spate of collisions

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) is urging motorists to take care on the county's roads following a spate of road traffic collisions.

Fire crews were called to four separate incidents on Thursday (29 September)- including two where they had to remove three people trapped in their vehicles.

Paul Argyle, GMFRS' Director of Emergency Response, said: "We attend thousands of car crashes every year and most of them are completely avoidable if people took more care while driving around.

"Firefighters are regularly called to incidents across Greater Manchester's roads - they are always distressing for us and the families of those involved. We'd really like people to watch what they're doing."

Three fire engines and a specialist rescue unit attended a road traffic collision between a single-decker bus and a car on Rochdale Road East, Heywood, shortly before 5.00pm. Two females were later released from their vehicle using specialist cutting equipment and conveyed to Fairfield Hospital, where they were subsequently discharged.

A second incident saw crews mobilise to another road traffic collision on Lee Side Lane, Diggle, Oldham, at 5.11pm, where they extricated an elderly lady from a vehicle on its side before she was taken to hospital.

Crews also attended a vehicle collision on the M60 at 4.38pm - between junction 17 and 18 - involving a car and an HGV. One man was released but declined hospital treatment.

Earlier, just after 3.00pm, two fire engines from Hollins and Chadderton - and a specialist rescue unit from Ashton - attended an incident where a people carrier had collided with the front of a terraced house.

Two men had removed themselves from the vehicle prior to the Fire Service's arrival and one declined hospital treatment whilst the other attended hospital for a precautionary check-up. No other casualties were reported.