A car rolled down a street before mounting a churchyard wall after a motorist is thought to have left the handbrake off when she parked.

Education welfare officer Lisa Haworth left her car in Devonshire Street, Accrington, and returned to find it 50 yards further down the road.

The P-registered Fiat Punto crossed Eccles Street and ran up the kerb outside St Mary Magdalen's Church, mounted a low wall bordering the church grounds and stopped with one wheel on the stonework, one in the air and two on the pavement.

A resident who spotted the vehicle called Accrington fire crews shortly after 1.15pm yesterday.

A crowd of residents and children from neighbouring St Mary Magdalen's primary school watched as firefighters used a winch and air bags to retrieve the balancing car.

Two engines and an incident support unit were needed to lower the Fiat from the wall. Station officer Jim Owen said: "The woman seems to have left her handbrake off and the car came to rest in a precarious condition.

"It rolled at least 50 yards and managed to cross a junction. It could have been a lot more serious but fortunately no one was coming up the road and the kids were in school.

"A front wheel was on the wall and it was balanced at such an angle that the slightest pressure would have rolled it on to its roof.

"The wheel was damaged when it struck the wall. We used equipment off the incident support unit to make sure the car did not sustain any more damage."

Mrs Haworth declined to comment.

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