Man left hanging out of car after attempting to stop armed suspects following aggravated burglary in Blackpool

Two masked men wearing black forced their way into a property on Annan Crescent at around 6.25pm on Tuesday.

One of the men was armed with a knife.

The occupant – a woman in her 50s – suffered a slash injury to the hand. The injury is not life-threatening, police said.

A member of the public attempted to stop the suspects from escaping and ended up hanging out of the getaway vehicle – believed to be an SUV-type vehicle – before falling into a parked vehicle.

He was taken to hospital where officers said he remained in a "serious but stable condition."

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Temp Det Sgt Wayne Marshall, of Blackpool CID, said: "These acts of violence could have easily resulted in somebody losing their life.

"We are taking this matter extremely seriously and have a dedicated team of officers assigned to this case.

"While I know residents in the area will be concerned about what has happened, I want to reassure them that this incident is being treated as targeted and isolated.

"We have increased reassurance patrols in the area as a precaution.”

A 47-year-old woman from Blackpool was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm as part of the investigation.

She was later released on conditional bail.

Officers said work was ongoing to identify and arrest the two male suspects..

Eye witnesses or anyone with footage which captured something suspicious on Annan Crescent and the surrounding areas between 6pm and 7pm was urged to come forward.

If you have any information that may help police, call 101 or [email protected] quoting log number 1184 of March 12.

Information can also be reported online via the Lancashire Police website at https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/.

Alternatively, Crimestoppers can contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/.