A MOTHER and her young children had a narrow escape after a car swerved onto the pavement and clipped a pram.

The woman was walking with her young daughter and pushing her baby in a pram at the junction of Belmont Road and Forfar Street in Astley Bridge at about 4.30pm when they were nearly hit by a car.

A hatchback vehicle had been driving along Belmont Road when a Citroen van pulled out of the side street, forcing the female driver of the small car to swerve suddenly.

The car was heading towards the young family walking on the street but the driver managed to narrowly avoid them, clipping the pram along the way.

Police and fire services were called to the scene but fortunately no one was injured in the incident.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "If this had happened just a second or so before, the family could have been pinned against the wall but the driver was very quick in reacting to the incident."