A TAKEAWAY owner has spoken of his shock after a car crashed into the front of his shop - fracturing a gas pipe.

Hundreds of people had to be evacuated from their homes after the smash in Blackburn Road, Accrington, on Sunday night.

Mohammad Masood, who runs the Sahad Sweet Centre and Kebab House where the crash happened, said the accident had caused "chaos".

Mr Masood, who has run the shop for the last two years, said: "It was madness, the car hit the front of the takeaway really hard and it is a miracle that it didn't come right through the front door.

"There were a lot of people who had to come out on to the street while the gas was made safe. There were people everywhere.

"We don't know when we will be able to re-open but we hope to get back to normal as soon as possible."

The car, a Renault Clio, crashed into the shop at 6.30pm. Witnesses said that the vehicle came out of Willows Lane and was driving out of Accrington in the direction of Oswaldtwistle before it lost control and crashed.

The driver of the Renault Clio, a teenage girl, was unharmed.

Gas engineers carried out repairs and the road was closed as a precaution. It was re-opened two hours later.

Residents in 200-metre stretch of Blackburn Road were evacuated as a precaution.

Shopkeeper Shabir Hussain, who runs Shab's News, was forced to close his shop early.

He said: "I saw the car come down the road and hit the takeaway.

"I think she was trying to overtake but there wasn't enough room."

Mr Hussain, who lives above his shop with his family, said he had to take his three young children to a friends house to keep warm.

He added: "There was a lot of people on the street because we were all told to get out of our houses but most people were looking for other places to go.

"I took the children to my brother's house which isn't far away."

Engineers were still working at the site today in a bid to overcome the gas supply problems at the site.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.