Home owner’s narrow escape

Karl Highton surveys the damage to his house

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AN Oldham man has spoken of his lucky escape after a car ploughed into his porch in Grains Bar yesterday.

Karl Highton was getting ready for work at about 7am when a car careered into his porch on Ripponden Road, demolishing it and damaging his neighbour’s house. The driver walked away unharmed.

Mr Highton (52), who runs Bloomfield Sandwiches in Royton, said he would normally have been in the porch leaving home at that time, but was upstairs and escaped injury.

The accident has led to a call for increased safety at the blackspot. “I heard an enormous bang and the screech of tyres. I initially thought it was an accident on the road, but then I looked outside and the porch had gone. The car was flipped over.

“Funnily enough I was late: had I been on time I would have been in the porch when the car hit, so I’m grateful because it would have killed me. He just lost control there, as many have before. It’s very much a blackspot.

“People come off the motorway and when they come round that bend they don’t realise what speed they’re going. Measures were put in further down the road after people died. The council needs to do something about this. I’m going to get on to them.”

Councillor Dave Hibbert, cabinet member for highways, planning and transport, said: “We know people don’t always report damage-only crashes and we’ll be looking in the future at how to address this. In the last five years there have been no reported accidents involving injuries at this location.”