A FATHER and his five-year-old daughter had a narrow escape when a car almost ploughed into them when the driver apparently left the handbrake off.

Ben Reed, aged 24, was sitting on a little wall outside Asda in Moss Bank Way yesterday with his daughter Kaci-Leigh when the grey Vauxhall Astra rolled down the hill towards them.

The incident happened at about 1pm after Mr Reed and his daughter were waiting outside for his partner Kirsty Jolliffe, aged 21, to finish the weekly shop.

Mr Reed, from Halliwell, said: "One minute we were sat on the wall, the next minute I was pulling her out of the way of the car. Looking back it was nerve-wracking.

"At first I thought someone was reversing, but then I saw there was no one in the car so I had to act quickly. It made a loud scraping noise as it went over the concrete but I moved us in the nick of time."

While no-one was injured in the incident, little Kaci-Leigh was calmed down by kind staff who let her pick out a toy from the shop.

Mr Reed said: "My daughter was a bit shaken up because she didn't understand what had happened, but the staff at Asda were fantastic and came out to help calm her down.

"Then they even let her go into the store and pick out a doll despite the fact it wasn't the store's fault.

"The driver was called to the car and she said she must have forgotten to put the handbrake on.

"People who do that should not be on the road otherwise the next person might not be so lucky.

"If anything I just hope this will make people check their handbrake — this could have ended up being a lot worse."

Asda has been approached for a comment.