A BABY and her parents had a narrow escape when a car ploughed into their front room just minutes after they had gone to bed.

Shocked mother of two Sarah Law, her baby Tegan and husband, John, had been in the living room of their end terraced home minutes before the crash happened.

Debris was scattered across Manchester Road, Tyldesley, after the Vauxhall Astra crashed into the house just after 1.30am yesterday.

Mrs Law said: "We'd only been in bed a couple of minutes when there was a bang and the whole house shook.

"I realised something had crashed into the house. I rushed to the window and looked out to see a car with a police car behind."

Mrs Law's elder daughter, Samantha Powell, was staying with her father, Darren, in nearby Darlington Street when the accident happened.

Police closed off the main A577 route 100 yards before Tyldesley town centre while structural engineers assessed the badly damaged home.

Builders were last night working to stabilise the structure so Manchester Road could be reopened to Traffic.

Welder Mr Law will continue to live in the undamaged part of the house while builders demolish and rebuild the front of the house on the corner of Whewell Street. Mrs Law, a shop assistant at Wilkinsons' Leigh store, Samantha and baby Tegan, who will celebrate her first birthday on January 2, are staying with relatives until repairs are completed.

Traffic was routed around the town centre creating chaos with all through traffic being diverted onto speed-hump-laden Princess Avenue and Astley Street.

A 16-year-old boy from Atherton was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicle taking, driving without a licence or insurance, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident.

He was bailed to appear in court at a later date.