A CAR flipped onto its side and smashed into a barrier at a dangerous bend in the early hours of this morning.

Emergency services were called to Scout Road at around 3.40am when the driver of a Vauxhall Astra lost control and ploughed into a crash barrier at the bend near Belmont Road.

He was taken to hospital but is not thought to have been seriously injured in the incident, in which the car narrowly avoided going over the side of the hill.

Karsten Boyle, watch manager at Bolton Central fire station, said: "It was quite a serious crash in terms of the speed the car was travelling at.

"The driver had somehow lost control of the car and it ended up on its side. It had wrapped itself around the crash barrier and was wedged under it.

"The barrier had trapped the car and prevented it from going over the side of the hill.

"The driver himself was not trapped and the easiest way for us to get him out was through the rear hatch.

"We removed the boot and the rear seats and he was able to crawl out by himself."

Three fire engines from Bolton attended, as well as a rescue unit from Leigh.

The road remains shut because the damage caused by the crash has made the bend unsafe.

Extra safety measures were introduced on the bend after a motorist died after plunging 80 feet down the hillside in 2003.