Runaway lorry crashes into house

THE house was badly damaged by the driverless lorry

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AN HGV ploughed into the front of a house in Watersheddings while the driver called into a nearby shop.

The 28-tonne Scania lorry rolled back around 100ft, smashing a window, ripping chunks out of the stone door surround and damaging the front wall of the terraced house, which was empty.

Lorry driver David Martin had stopped en route from Manchester to Halifax. The 44-year-old driver for Crosrol recycling in Halifax, said: “I parked up, went into the shop and heard a bang.

“I came out to see what had happened. I thought something has crashed in the road but the lorry was against the front of the house. Luckily the homeowners were out and there’s just structural damage.

“I was only in the shop a couple of minutes. You just don’t expect something like that to happen.”

Mr Martin, an HGV driver for 11 years, added: “The brake was definitely on. With an HGV, you put the brake on and it locks in place — it’s not like a car. The brake is either on or off. There’s no way I could have got out if the brake has been off.”

United Utilities checked for a gas leak and council building control officers checked the structural damage before securing the house.