A BARROW woman has issued her gratitude to two passers-by who helped her cancer-stricken friend after she fell out of her wheelchair and into a pothole outside The Range in Ramsden Square.

Anita Milward, 66, was pushing her friend Heather Collins, 70, in a wheelchair when disaster struck as the wheel hit a pothole as they attempted to cross the road.

Mrs Milward said: "We were crossing the road and everything was clear but as we were crossing one of the wheels hit a pothole and my friend fell off her chair into the water which left her clothes sodden."

Buses were forced to stop as the 66-year-old struggled to get her friend out of the pothole but a man and a woman, believed to be in their 60's and 50's respectively according to Mrs Milward, quickly rushed to the pair's aid to help Mrs Collins out of the pothole.

Mrs Milward added: "These people were straight over and they were absolutely brilliant. It was all so quick I don't even know their names, they just asked if we were alright and then went.

"I just want to say a huge thank you. I was panicking a lot because I thought my friend might have banged her head but these people came to straight to my aid and they were absolutely wonderful. Without them I don't know what I would have done and how I would have coped."

The pair have been friends for 25 years and used to live in Spain together. Mrs Collins, who resides in Liverpool, is being looked after by Mrs Milward while her family are on holiday.

The 70-year-old was shaken up by the incident but has not been injured and didn't need to go to hospital.