AN elderly man who was on his way to celebrate his diamond wedding anniversary has died after being involved in a car crash.

John Holden, aged 83, was driving on the A6 in Blackrod, with his wife, Janet, when their Nissan Micra was involved in a collision with a Toyota Rav4 near the entrance to the Portofino restaurant.

It happened at about 7pm on Friday, just yards away from where 16 family members and friends were waiting to celebrate the Holdens’ 60th anniversary.

The couple, of Oxford Road, Lostock, were cut free from the car by firefighters.

Mr Holden was taken to hospital with a broken ankle and fractured ribs. But his condition deteriorated and he died at around 4pm on Sunday.

His wife, aged 82, was taken to hospital suffering from shock.

Relatives were too upset to speak about the tragedy yesterday but issued a statement.

They said: “John will be sadly missed by wife, Janet, daughters Wendy Hulme and Christine Tickle, his four grandsons and three great grandchildren.”

Andrea Ingrassia, owner of the restaurant, said one of the delivery drivers saw the accident as he was leaving and alerted the emergency services and the people waiting at the restaurant.

He said: “My staff went out to help and said that the couple were conscious and talking so I am really shocked to hear that he has died.

“The group left the restaurant and obviously they were very upset about what had happened.

”It is a bad road because there is no light.”

She added: “I think something needs to be done about the road because too many people have lost their lives.”

The driver of the Toyota was unhurt, emergency services workers said.

The road has seen a number of fatal crashes in recent years.

Last September, Jade Pickering and Tia Guye, both aged 16, were killed at the junction with Station Road when the car they were travelling in collided with a coach.

Barry Britton died after a collision with three cars and a bus on the stretch between Station Road and Grimeford Lane in November, 2008. And Eileen Ruxton was killed when her car collided with a lamppost and a tree near the Ridgeway Arms pub in 2005.

Police are appealing to anyone who saw Friday’s accident to call the road policing unit on 0161 856 7201.