A DOG walker said he felt ‘lucky to be alive’ after a car struck him in a hit-and-run.

Mark Hindle was walking in Mill Hill Lane, Hapton, when a car hit him and his sheepdog, Jax.

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The incident was captured on CCTV and moments after the collision residents could be seen running to help the 53-year-old.

They are now calling for action to be taken on the road, they claim is regularly ‘used like a race track’.

The impact of the collision saw Mr Hindle and Jax thrown onto rocks outside a house at around 6.30pm.

Mr Hindle, who lives in the village, suffered severe bruising, but said it could have been much worse.

He said: “It all happened so fast I can hardly remember it.

“The car had to have been going between 30 or 40mph.

“I was blaming myself to begin with for not getting out the way properly and I was worried about my dog more than myself.

“I was trying to pick up my pace when I was walking because I could hear it coming. I was going to pull into the driveway of a house that was coming up but it was too late.

“I feel very lucky that I’ve escaped pretty unscathed with no broken bones, just bruising all over my body.

“I could hardly move, my shoulder particularly was in agony and I keep finding new bruises everywhere.

“My dog was howling his head off.

“It’s doing my head in that I can’t do certain things at the moment like drive but this could have been so much worse.”

Mr Hindle, who was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital, said Jax was sore after Thursday’s incident but had recovered well.

His wife, Carol, branded the road ‘extremely dangerous’ and said some lanes were ‘used like a motorway’.

She said: “That road is dangerous now, everyone is saying it.

“Thankfully Mark is fit and healthy but there are plenty of people who walk along that road who could’ve come off a lot worse.

“We have hardly any speed signs or traffic calming measures around here and some roads are like a motorway.

“I often feel like I’m taking my life into my hands when I go out on my horses around there.

“It was lucky it didn’t happen further down the lane because there are no houses, I don’t know who would’ve seen Mark.”

Residents said some motorists used the road as a cut-through to Huncoat and often showed ‘no respect’ for horse riders or dog walkers.

Childminder Karen Foster, 55, who lives in Mill Hill Lane, said: “It is ridiculous the speed that some cars go down this road.

“I have seen many near-misses, some cars come racing down it at about 60mph.

“Some drivers have no respect for anyone. I won’t take the children I look after here down the path for walks anymore, it’s not safe.

“The road is used like a race track.

“I know the dog was screaming when Mark got hit, it’s terrible.

“It is genuinely crazy how fast they go down here and he could’ve died.”

Police are now urging witnesses to come forward.

A police spokesman said: “We are treating this incident as a hit and run.

“I appeal to anyone who witnessed the incident or saw a black Astra in the Hapton area on Thursday at 6.30pm to contact police on 101.”