FIVE teenagers were lucky to escape alive after their car careered out of control and struck a church wall in Radcliffe.

Firefighters spent more than one hour cutting free two boys, aged 17 and 18, trapped inside the wreckage of the Rover Metro on Saturday night.

Two other teenage boys and a girl were taken to hospital following the accident in Stand Lane, close to the junction with New Road, at 10.30pm.

The red Metro collided with a wall outside the New Life Pentecostal church.

The boundary wall had only been rebuilt two weeks ago.

Police said the teenagers were travelling towards Radcliffe when the driver lost control.

Firefighters and paramedics arrived at the scene to find two youths trapped in the back seat.

It took ten firemen more than one hour to free them by cutting off the roof and removing the front seats.

The 18-year-old was the most seriously injured and was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital with head and pelvic injuries.

The 17-year-old was taken to Fairfield Hospital with head and leg injuries. The 19-year-old driver was also taken to Fairfield suffering abdominal injuries.

Two other passengers, a male, aged 19, and a female, aged 17, sustained minor injuries and were not detained in hospital.

Stand Lane resident Greg Garcias (30), who has lived opposite the church for two years, heard the crash and ran out of his home.

He said: "There was a big screech and a massive bang. We honestly thought a car was about to come through the front window.

"I went out to check they were okay but it was a mess. The car was facing our house so must have spun round because the back of it had hit the wall. I don't know how they missed our car which was parked directly opposite where they stopped."

Church pastor Mr Stephen Walkden said that the damaged wall had only been rebuilt a fortnight ago. The work had been carried out at no cost to the church to allow drivers emerging from flats in New Road into Stand Lane greater visibility

"The builders asked us if they could do the work and we agreed they could rebuild the wall and reduce the height by nine inches, " he said.

Pastor Walkden said worshippers arriving for Sunday's 10am church service helped clear some of the debris to provide access for wheelchair users.

The Metro was wrecked in the accident. Police closed the road for an hour and a half while investigations were carried out.

A police spokesman said: "The car had been seen by a police officer travelling in the opposite direction before the accident, but by the time they turned around it had gone into the wall."