Video shows driver narrowly missing pedestrian before crashing into Preston hair salon

CCTV captured the hair raising near-miss in Ashton at 7.40am on Saturday (November 18), when the driver smashed into The Westwood Lounge salon at the junction of Aqueduct Street and Fylde Road.

The footage shows the driver narrowly missing a passerby who appears oblivious to the oncoming car as it motors towards him.

The man walking past the salon briefly looks up from his phone as the car crashes head-on into the shuttered shop front, smashing the salon window and damaging brickwork.

The driver then steps out of his car and examines the damage to his vehicle before getting back behind the wheel and driving away.

It is the second crash at the salon in less than three months, following a three-car smash in September which wrote off two parked cars belonging to the salon manager and a client.

You can see CCTV of the September crash here.

Darren Westwood, whose daughters Jayde and Elli own and run the salon, said he fears the crash has caused around £6,000 in damage.

But he said his daughters have fixed up the salon as much as they can over the weekend and it is back open for business today (Monday, November 22).

He said: "We've pieced the salon back together best we can to continue business as usual for this week.

"I'm getting a quote for the windows and frames tomorrow and then the roller shutter, floor tiles and ceiling, but I'm expecting it to cost at least £6,000.

"This is the second time a car has come through the window in two months. Last time the damage to the shop was minimal, with three cars outside being taking the impact and being written off. But this time it's caused much more damage."

Proud dad Darren has paid tribute to his youngest daughter - salon manager Elli Westwood, 19 - after she worked through the weekend to fix-up her salon ready for the week ahead.

He said: "My youngest daughter Elli is running the business at the moment and at age 19 she's coping incredibly well under difficult circumstances.

"She's worked all weekend to make the salon safe and usable.

"We’re all exhausted but like always, as a family, we’ve pulled it together and made it happen. I’m so proud of us."

Darren said he would like to see the Council install a bollard or railing beside the road to protect pedestrians and the salon from any future accidents.

He added: "It's a bad junction and we see accidents and near misses everyday. The council or Highways really need to put a barrier of some kind outside because someone could get really injured."

The registered keeper of the car has been traced by police but no arrests have been made. Officers are asking for anyone with information to get in touch.

A police spokesman said: "It was damage only so not one we would give much detail on. Looks like the driver did make off, anyone with info can call 101 quoting incident reference 395 of November 20."

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