A DRIVER has been arrested after his car ploughed into a pub in Bolton town centre.

The male driver of the silver discovery vehicle was arrested and led away from the scene of the crash, which occurred just after 5pm at the Dog and Partridge pub in Manor Street.

Manor Street was closed last night but has since re-opened to the public.

Building assessors will be on site this morning to assess the damage to the pub.

Onlookers said it looked as though people who were inside the building at the time of the smash kept the driver inside the pub until police could arrive and arrest him.

No one is believed to have been injured in the incident.

Fire crews were called to the scene to attempt to free the car from its position inside the building.

A police officer at the scene confirmed that there were fears for the safety of the building, which suffered serious structural damage when the 4 x 4 drove into it from the direction of either Folds Road or Kay Street.

Witnesses described hearing “a loud bang” before seeing smoke fill the air around the pub.

22-year-old Paige Forrest was walking in the area when she heard the loud sound of the smash.

She said: “I thought the noise was builders throwing something into a skip but then I saw all this smoke.

“It is certainly not what you expect to see when you are walking back after work.”

“I could see a lot of people running around inside the pub, I think they were locking the driver inside because when the police arrived he was still inside and then we saw him lead away in handcuffs.”

“The people who were inside the pub at the time looked pretty upset.”

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “We can confirm that the male driver of the car was arrested at the scene by officers.”

“It does not appear as though anyone was injured in the incident.”

People have taken to Twitter to comment on the incident at the popular pub.

Bolton Councillor Christopher Peacock tweeted: “unbelievable — Hope no one has been hurt.”

Darren Riley paid tribute to the venue, tweeting: “One of the cultural hearts of Bolton. So many great bands have played there, important bands.”