Two men flee BMW after crashing it into graveyard wall

A blue BMW crashed into a graveyard wall last night, February 13, at St Andrew's Church in Longton.
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The vehicle was seen driving at high speed before crashing into the wall on the corner of Liverpool Road and School Lane at 8pm last night.

The collision caused part of the church wall to collapse and has damaged a bin and a memorial bench.

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Onlookers reported seeing two men immediately leave the blue BMW before then running off down School Lane.

The vehicle crashed into the church wall 'at high speed' causing the bench and wall to collapseThe vehicle crashed into the church wall 'at high speed' causing the bench and wall to collapse
The vehicle crashed into the church wall 'at high speed' causing the bench and wall to collapse

Reverend Andrew Parkinson said: "That wall has been there for more than 100 years and has only ever had one alteration on it, but now it will need completely rebuilding.

"I suspect the car must have been driving at at least 50 or 60 miles per hour to cause the damage it has, it is complete stupidity. We don't know much about the crash, but to see how far some of the heavy wall stones were thrown just shows how fast the car was driving.

"I am completely surprised that the two men in the car could even walk or run away from a crash that big without any injuries, with the pace of the car and the damage caused.

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"If this had been a normal Saturday night and we weren't in a lockdown, the likelihood of some teenagers being sat on that bench at 8pm is very high. It is extremely likely that there would have beens someone sat there when this happened, and they would have died.

The two men then fled the vehicle after the incidentThe two men then fled the vehicle after the incident
The two men then fled the vehicle after the incident

"We take great pride in our church yard and spend a lot of money looking after it and now we are left with a completely shattered wall, so when I heard the news I couldn't believe it. It is sheer stupidity from whoever was driving."

Lancashire County Council have since visited the site of the crash and made both the pavement and road safe for drivers and pedestrians.

A spokesperson for the Lancashire Police said: "At 8:07 on the evening of Saturday, February 13, we received a report that a car was driving at high speed and that it collided with the church wall before two males got out of the vehicle.

"Anyone with information about what happened is asked to contact us as soon as possible on 101 quoting log 1279 of February 13th."