Police were called to the A56 Haslingden by-pass after receiving reports of two men racing horses and carts on the road.

Witnesses, including an off-duty police officer for Greater Manchester Police, called officers just before 1.10pm yesterday to say the men were racing each other near the Winfields roundabout in the Rising Bridge area.

A police spokesman said the pair were then reported to have crashed and a fight involving a number of people broke out when motorists started getting out of vehicles.

However, when officers arrived there was nobody at the scene and there was no evidence of a crash.