THE driver of a Mercedes which ploughed into a parked car at speed and damaged seven vehicles in a horror crash is lucky to be alive, firefighters said.

A black Mercedes CLS 600 crashed into parked cars in Bury and Bolton Road, Bradley Fold, near to timber merchants Travis Perkins, at about 11pm on Friday.

The driver, aged 28, miraculously only escaped with abdominal pains and bruising, thought to have been caused by the airbag being deployed.

He was able to walk out of the car himself and was taken to hospital for checks. It is believed he blacked out at the wheel.

Six of the cars the Mercedes crashed into belonged to the Lancashire Transmissions car garage, and one was owned by a neighbour.

Pictures from the scene show twisted metal and debris across the road, highlighting the scale of the damage.

The black Mercedes initially crashed into a silver Mercedes, causing a domino effect.

The silver Mercedes then smashed into a Land Rover Freelander owned by the neighbour, and then into a Ford Focus which went into a Citroen Berlingo van.

The van was moved by about 10 yards by the force of the impact, then crashing into a Ford Connect van and a VW Polo.

Three of the cars were owned by customers of the garage, who had left their cars for repair work.

Andrew Axford, the owner of the garage, said his yard was a scene of devastation this morning.

He said: "It is unbelievable that the driver got out relatively unhurt. There was a car aerial and a first aid kit from the cars which flew near to the garage.

"He must have been going at about 100mph to cause this amount of damage."

The owner of the Land Rover, who asked not to be named, said: "I was watching TV and initially I thought it was a lorry mounting the kerb, but then I saw all the lights flashing in no time.

"It is devastating, the amount of paperwork which we will have to do now. Our car is written off. It's just lucky the driver wasn't killed."

Investigators were left puzzled about how the driver came to crash into the vehicle, with no visible skid marks on the road.

A police spokesman said no arrests were made, and the driver of the Mercedes thought to have tested negative when breathalysed by officers.

Watch manager Neil Mercer, at Bolton North station, said he suspects the driver of the car could have passed out at the wheel.

He said: "The car was coming from Bury towards Bolton, and we don't know why, but he has hit a parked car at high speed.

"We don't know whether he passed out at the wheel, but he must have been going at some speed.

"He was very lucky to escape alive and with such minor injuries."

Bury and Bolton Road was closed for about two hours while the emergency services dealt with the incident.