A VAN has crashed into the garden wall of a house in Sharples after being pulled over by police in a drugs bust.

The Vauxhall Vivaro van driver had tried to escape from police, but they managed to force it to pull over and seize a large haul of class A drugs.

A police car and the van were damaged, with the former being towed away on a truck after the crash, which happened at about 1.45pm today in Blackburn Road.

Police say the van's driver launched an escape bid by trying to force its way past the police car.

The police car is believed to have moved across to block its path, with the van then smashing into it and hitting the wall.

The attempt to flee was unsuccessful, and two men who were in the van have been arrested on suspicion of drugs offences.

Police said they could not confirm what drugs had been seized until they had been tested.

The drugs discovery was not by chance - Greater Manchester Police's ANPR intercept team stopped the van as part of an ongoing investigation.

A police spokesman said: "A large quantity of what are believed to be class A drugs were recovered from inside the vehicle.

"Two men, aged 26 and 53, have been arrested on suspicion of drugs offences and taken into police custody for questioning.

"Enquiries into this matter are ongoing."

Witnesses said up to five police cars were at the scene, and the damaged police vehicle was towed away on a low-loading vehicle.

A six-foot section of the brick wall had was pushed back and shards of glass covered the pavement outside the house, close to the Brierfield Pub.

Eyewitnesses said the two police cars looked to have penned the van in, with the driver detained inside another police car shortly after the incident.

Nobody was injured during the incident.

Harry Batty, who passed the scene in a car shortly after the crash, said: "It looked like the van had been rammed by the police.

"Clearly there has been some contact with the police car as it has been taken away on a low loader."