A MAN who suffered serious head and chest injuries is in a critical condition after a car overturned on the A56.

Police said the 37-year-old man’s white BMW 335 saloon hit a barrier on the northbound carriageway near the junction with the A679 at Huncoat before overturning at around 4pm on Wednesday.

Amer Amin, from Accrington, was taken to Royal Preston Hospital where he remains in a critical condition and has been put into an induced coma, his family have been notified.

A passenger, a 25-year-old woman from Baxenden, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital for treatment.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Blackburn with Darwen councillor Zamir Khan, Mr Amin’s uncle, said he had been to see his nephew in hospital.

Cllr Khan said: “We are so upset at the moment about what happened.

“I was there until 3am with him.

“All our thoughts and prayers are with him and we are praying he comes round.”

The road was closed for several hours between the Rising Bridge roundabout in Haslingden and Burnley Road near Huncoat while a collision investigation took place.

A Highways England spokesman said both northbound carriageways of the A56 were closed and a large number of vehicles were held up.

The road reopened at around 1.30am on Thursday morning.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Sergeant Andy Ainsworth said: “A man has suffered serious injuries and my thoughts are with him and his family at this difficult time.

“My team are working to establish exactly what happened and I urge anybody who saw the collision and has not already spoken to us to make contact.”

The A56 connects the M65 at junction eight near Huncoat and Accrington, goes through Haslingden and joins up with the M66 in Edenfield.

It is used by thousands of commuters travelling between East Lancashire and Manchester.

Cllr Eamonn Higgins, who represents the area on Hyndburn Council and has worked as a paramedic for 30 years, said: “That stretch of road up near the Accrington end has had a lot of incidents over the years.

“Being a paramedic myself I have attended to many patients there.

“It’s a sweeping bend and it goes downhill.

“This combined with poor light and heavy rain at this time of the year makes it very dangerous.”

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 and quote log reference 0955 of December 5.