A DRIVER has been airlifted to hospital after a carjacking and high speed police chase through Bromley Cross ended in a three-car pile up.

The 25-year-old suffered serious head injuries after the Mini he was driving crashed into a Parcel Force van in Darwen Road, Bromley Cross, with the car flipping onto the roof of a Ford Focus.

The Mini was stolen in Trinity Street in the town centre at 8.10am this morning when a man was carjacked at a set of traffic lights.

Police responded to the call and tracked the car down, which sparked a chase which eyewitnesses said reached speeds of up to 80mph. 

The Mini sped up to Darwen Road before crashing into the red Parcel Force van and the Focus at about 9am.

It had lost control, eyewitnesses said, after clipping a Toyota Rav4 a few hundred feet back down the road.

Firefighters and paramedics worked to free the driver of the Mini, who was then airlifted to Salford Royal Hospital at about 10.45am.

The 22-year-old passenger was also taken to hospital, along with the woman at the wheel of the Focus, who suffered elbow and knee injuries.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of robbery.

The driver of the police car that chased the Mini was initially suspended from driving duties, but The Bolton News understands he has since been reinstated after a police review of an in-car video.

A police spokesman said: “Police were called to Trinity Street, Bolton, shortly after 8.10am to reports that a car had been stolen during a violent robbery.

“Officers attended and established that a man driving a grey Mini had been forced out of his car whilst stationary at traffic lights and had it stolen.

“A short time later, officers located the stolen vehicle and a police pursuit ensued before the Mini was involved in a serious collision with a blue Ford Focus and a red van on Darwen Road, Bolton.

“The driver of the vehicle, a 25-year-old man, sustained serious head injuries and was treated at the scene before being transferred to hospital by air ambulance.

"His 22-year-old male passenger was taken to Salford Royal hospital along with a woman who was driving the Ford Focus who sustained elbow and knee injuries.

“Collision investigators are at the scene and the two occupants of the stolen car have been arrested on suspicion of robbery.”

Wreckage from the Mini was scattered up to 100 feet down Darwen Road, which has been closed in both directions as crash scene investigators comb it for evidence.

The woman driving the Focus is thought to have just dropped her children off at school.

She was said to be conscious and able to stand before being transferred to hospital.

The Parcel Force van was also very badly damaged in the crash, which happened opposite the Bromley Cross Mini Market shop, but the driver is not thought to have been hurt.