A MAN was saved from being flung into the River Darwen by a set of iron railings.

This picture from our archives shows 32-year-old David Wallace in 1979, with his Bedford transit van, which had failed to take a bend where Aqueduct Road joins Hamilton Street in Ewood,

The W.H.Smith assistant manager had been driving when his van skidded on a bend.

He said: "I saw the railings coming at me but the van would not respond to anything I did.

"I tried the brakes and the steering to try and change its direction but it headed straight for the river."

Luckily, Mr Wallace, of Lower Darwen, was wearing his seatbelt, which saved him from being thrown against and probably through the van's windscreen and into the river 15 feet below.

He added: "That's the luckiest escape of my life."