A STOLEN car ploughed into a Bolton gas substation, causing a leak.

Shortly before 3.30am yesterday, a silver Renault Laguna crashed into the substation at the junction of Chorley Old Road and Ivy Road, before careering into a silver Honda Jazz parked outside a house.

The people in the car then fled the scene before firefighters and police arrived. It is not known whether they were injured.

A crew from Bolton Central Fire Station worked at the scene to deal with the gas leak for around two hours.

Engineers from Cadent also attended to repair the damaged substation.
Road closures were in place at the junction until 7.18am.

No nearby properties or buildings had to be evacuated, although residents said they were initially told to keep their windows shut.

The Honda was seriously damaged in the crash while a caravan parked in front sustained some damage to its rear.

Both belonged to Ivy Road resident Kathleen Denton, who said: "We did not see it happen. A neighbour heard it and saw people run off. She woke me up and since then it has just been chaos.

"The car is just a mess. Hopefully the caravan is repairable, we have only had it for five or six weeks.

"We have only had one weekend out of it. We were supposed to be going to Kelso next weekend.

"This is the second time something has happened to us in six months.

"A few months ago during the snow and ice a car skidded and took our fence out.

"They never stop at the give way at the junction, they just come speeding round. It is dangerous living here."

Chris Wilcox, watch manager at Bolton Central said: "A stolen car smashed into a gas substation and caused a leak.

"The people in the car left the scene. They also crashed into another car that was parked up.

"We had to deal with a reasonable gas leak so we had to set up a cordon. Around 200 metres of Chorley Old Road was closed and about 50 metres of Ivy Road."

A spokesman for Cadent said: "We were called out by the fire brigade after a vehicle damaged one of our governor stations.

"This resulted in a small leak of gas, at levels that did not need us to evacuate any nearby buildings.

"We had repair teams on site quickly and they stopped the leak. Gas continued to be safely supplied to all properties throughout.

"We need to carry out further repairs, but all is safe and the road is back open again."