Police closed off the A674 Blackburn Road on the junction with Millennium Way where the smash happened just after 1pm on Tuesday.

A red Ford Escort was in collision with a yellow Ford van and paramedics arrived at the scene to take the driver of the Ford Escort and her passenger to Chorley hospital with minor injuries.

Traffic queues formed briefly as police and emergency workers cleared debris from the road, but cars did not have to be diverted.

Highways chiefs recently announced work was due to start in November to change the lay-out of the junction and erect a set of traffic lights at the A674 to alleviate traffic problems.

Resident Barry Waddilove, who lives on Blackburn Road, said: "It was a head-on smash just around the corner from the junction, which is very dangerous.

"I saw the paramedics help the woman out of the car, I believe she had facial injuries and her passenger also suffered slight injuries.

"The spot where the accident happened is around a bend in an area that I think also needs some form of traffic calming.

"Lancashire County Council have not addressed this in their proposals for the redesign of the junction and I think we will see more accidents of this kind if nothing is done.

"It's very slippery on that bend, especially when it rains - people have a tendency to go too fast around the corner."

A spokesman for Lancashire police said: "We received a call about the accident at 1.04pm.

"The road was blocked for traffic heading into Chorley until the vehicles were removed from the road."

The work to install traffic lights and to change the lay-out of the A674 Blackburn Road with Millennium Way will start next month and will go on for at least 13 weeks.

LCC have said contractors will not need to close off the whole road for the duration of the work.