A WOMAN has told how she feared her elderly mother was dead after a freak road accident in Nelson on the eve of her 80th birthday.

Mary Latham, who was 80 yesterday, was getting out of a Peugeot 106 car in Chapelhouse Road, Nelson, when a Nissan Cherry collided with it.

Mrs Latham was trapped between the Peugeot and the side of the road, suffering a broken leg and a deep gash in her other leg.

Her daughter Winifred Shea, 60, of Kings Causeway, Brierfield, who was a passenger in the Peugeot with her mother, said: "We'd just been out for the afternoon shopping in Burnley and we'd pulled up to let my mother out when there was this almighty bang. When I looked out of the window and saw my mother lying there on the floor and not moving I thought she was dead. It was traumatic to say the least."

Mrs Latham was taken to Burnley General Hospital where she was in a satisfactory condition today.

Mrs Shea and the Nissan driver, Patricia Alcock, 44, of Mount Street, Brierfield, suffered minor injuries. The Peugeot driver, Sheila Bulcock, 62, of Keighley Road, Colne, escaped unhurt.

Mrs Latham's family brought flowers, cards and presents to her hospital bedside yesterday to mark her birthday.

The accident happened at 4.55pm on Thursday.

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