A MAN hit by a truck on the M61was an escaped mental health patient, it has emerged

The man, aged in his early 30s, suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital for treatment after the incident.

Health bosses said an investigation had been launched into the incident.

Craig Pennington, who was just behind the lorry, was driving to work from his home in Blackpool.

The 41-year-old security engineer said he saw the man "jump" into the truck's path.

He added: "I saw him lying on his back covered in blood. Then he has stood up and tried to run on to the other carriageway.

"We then grabbed him until the police and ambulance came.

"We just gave him a cigarette and calmed him down really.

"The truck had jack-knifed and it was a miracle that more cars were not involved.

"He was conscious and talking but he had a bad injury to his head.

"The police rang me later on and told me he had escaped from a mental health hospital."

Officers went to the M61 between junctions three and four at about 10.15am on Thursday, October 23

The incident took place close to Brackley Golf Course, near Little Hulton, less than a mile from Royal Bolton Hospital.

A police spokesman said the man had mental health issues but that his injuries were not life-threatening.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services at the hospital, said: “We can confirm that one of our patients has been involved in an incident and that we are investigating this.”

The motorway was closed in both directions while emergency services dealt with the incident.

A police spokesman said: "We were called to the M61 where an injured pedestrian was sitting on the hard shoulder with his legs in the first lane.

"He sustained a head injury and was taken to hospital to receive treatment."

Mental health bosses at the hospital were ordered to improve security at their unit in the Royal Bolton after a number of incidents where patients had escaped and harmed themselves.

Greater Manchester West Mental Health Foundation Trust was heavily criticised in after Mark Dakin committed suicide after escaping from Maple House.

The 24-year-old fell five stories from the top of the Beehive Mill in Great Lever in 2008.

The day of his death was the fourth time in just over a month he had escaped from one of two wards at the hospital, and there had been six successful escapes from psychiatric intensive care unit Maple House before then.

In November 2009, Michael Kershaw escaped from K3 ward, after being sectioned.

He died from a heroin overdose four days later.