A WOMAN who narrowly escaped being hit by a car in her front garden has today urged motorists to slow down on a road which has become notorious for accidents.

The front wall and garden of Kathleen Foulds' property in Grane Road, Haslingden, was destroyed on Saturday when struck by a car around 5.30pm.

She said she was "very lucky" that she had gone indoors with her husband shortly before the accident.

The male driver of the car was treated by paramedics at the scene and later taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary suffering minor injuries.

Today Mrs Foulds said her house shook with the impact of the car. And she said the road had become an "accident black spot" as motorists failed to observe the 30 miles per hour speed limit.

"The dry stone wall at the front of the property has been knocked down and the garden ruined. It is a mess.

"We were both very shocked. We certainly felt the force of the impact. It was extremely fortunate that we weren't in the garden at the time or that no one was walking by.

"But this is by no means the first such incident. We are getting very accustomed to accidents on this road. Motorists need to slow down."

PC Paul Spooner of the Road Traffic Policing Unit in Accrington said: "Grane Road is known to be prone to accidents.

"It is an A road which at one time was a national speed limit zone. A lot of accidents are caused by people persistently driving too fast."

Mr and Mrs Foulds are in the process of assessing the damage and said repairs could take months.

Between April and October, 1999, on average four people every three weeks were killed or injured on the stretch between Haslingden and Blackburn.

Residents, police and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph joined forces to launch the Stop the Carnage campaign, which reduced the accident rate by 70 per cent.

Road safety measures were introduced including a 50mph limit, new white lines and signs on the M65 and A56 encouraging drivers to use other routes.

But Mrs Foulds said: "No one pays any attention to the speed limits and although we are near the fifty miles per hour zone, cars should pass our house at thirty."

Last Thursday, a lorry overturned in Grane Road near junction five of the M65, spilling a load of 20 tonnes of sheet steel and causing a motorway junction to be closed.