A PEDESTRIAN was taken to hospital after a town centre incident this morning.

Emergency services rushed to Bridge Street in Bolton town centre just before 11.30am after reports of an road traffic incident.

The road was cordoned off and traffic redirected through the pedestrianised area past Market Place

The incident left shoppers shocked, with many describing the woman has having suffered serious injuries.

A spokesman for North West Ambulance said: "Call received at 11.23 reporting an road traffic accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian. We’ve attended the incident with an emergency ambulance and a rapid response vehicle. A woman in her 60s has been taken to hospital, with a head injury."

Police however say the incident was not a road traffic collision but that a woman had fallen into the road.

The accident happened as the town centre was getting busier with people enjoying new found freedoms with the lifting of some lockdown restrictions on Monday.

Many were shopping and enjoying coffee outside for the first time in months.

It is understood that security guards from nearby Market Place rushed to the scene first and a cordon was put up quickly.

Police were directing traffic as paramedics treated the victim.

One man said: "Security guards from the shopping centre were quickly on the scene and the area was cordoned off quickly.

"She suffered a head wound, I didn't see it happen but a lot of people would have."

One shopper told The Bolton News: "It looks serious and it is so sad people are back in town after lockdown and this happens. It is just awful."