A MAN who rescued a baby which was catapulted through the sunroof of a car in an accident is to be interviewed as police try to discover what happened.

Officers investigating the crash, which happened on Thursday at about 4.25pm, say the four-month-old boy was thrown from the vehicle after it lost control and flipped over on the embankment of the M65.

Paramedics said the child, from Blackburn, was being held on his grandmother's knee in the front passenger seat when the vehicle went out of control on the eastbound carriageway - between junctions six at Whitebirk and seven at Clayton-le-Moors. Yesterday, they warned of the dangers of not putting youngsters in child car seats.

The baby landed unhurt on the side of the motorway where he was picked up by a passing motorist who took him to safety.

Now police have said they expect to be interviewing the man, who was not involved in the incident, as part of their inquiries.

The baby's 25-year-old mother, who was driving, and grandmother, 50, were left with minor injuries.

The baby and grandmother were kept in hospital for observation and a two-year-old girl who was in a child seat in the rear of the vehicle was unhurt.

Sgt Malcolm Bell of the motorway police unit said: "The injuries have turned out to be pretty minor.

The baby and the elderly female passenger have been kept in for observations.

"It was a potentially serious accident and through luck more than anything else it turned out to be relatively minor. It was only the one vehicle involved and we are quite happy with that.

"We have several witnesses who stopped and we have got most of their details."

Part of the investigation will be looking at whether those in the car were guilty of any criminal offences.