A shopowner has told how his niece was a few feet away from serious injury after a spectacular crash involving a car and an ambulance on an emergency call yesterday.

The ambulance was about six feet away from crashing through the window of Freshco food store in Oak Lane, Manningham, after it was in a collision with a Peugeot RCZ sports car at about 12.10pm.

Rahail Tariq said his 20-year-old niece Shara Hasan was working the till by the window.

The ambulance ploughed through a traffic light pole, sending debris flying into the shop front, before coming to a stop outside.

Mr Tariq said: “It was absolutely crazy. I was stood talking to my niece and then the building shook. Thank God it didn’t hit the window – the railings did a good job.”

The Peugeot car ploughed into the side of a building and the driver, a 24-year-old man, was taken to hospital as a precaution. The two paramedics in the ambulance were not injured.

Any witnesses to the crash are asked to ring PC Andy Richardson on 101.