AN AMBULANCE answering a 999 call crashed into a newsagent's shop following a collision with a car.

Now a Gwent police investigation is under way into how the crash near Pontypool - which left a motorist and passenger in hospital - happened.

Locals have said it was a "miracle" that no pedestrians were injured as the car and ambulance smashed the window of the busy local store.

The accident happened at 10.30am on Saturday morning in the busy residential and shopping area on The Highway, New Inn.

The car, a black G-registration Ford Fiesta, was wedged between the local Londis newsagents, run by Arthur Price, and the ambulance.

Fire crews had to cut the car driver and passenger from the wreckage before they were taken to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital for treatment.

One woman who witnessed the crash described it as a "miracle" no one was killed. She told the Argus: "I heard the sirens of the ambulance coming and went to the window to see what was happening.

"All of a sudden I saw a black car was going up the road looking like it was going to turn a corner.

"Then I heard a bang, and saw the car being lifted up in the air and going straight at the shop, knocking down the lamp post and the bin.

"My daughter phoned the emergency services, and they said an ambulance was already on its way to New Inn, but she told them 'No, you need an ambulance for this one - it has crashed.'

"I don't think it was anyone's fault, the roads are slippery when it is raining, so it just seems like an accident.

"It all happened so quickly, it was over in seconds. But it was so lucky that there was nobody stood outside the shop. There are usually paper boys outside on a Saturday morning. It's a miracle no-one was stood there."

The ambulance was on its way to a call and was not carrying a patient. A spokesman for the Wales Ambulance Trust refused to comment on the incident.