A scene reminiscent of an air raid

was left after a fully-loaded, driverless articulated lorry crashed into two bungalows at Brenacott Road, Bideford, after leaving a trail of damage for 300 yards.

Amazingly, no one was hurt, although for both families it could have been a very different story had they been in the front of their homes instead of the rear. In both cases young babies would have been in bed in the front rooms had the crash occurred a little later. It is anticipated that both bungalows will have to be demolished and rebuilt. In addition, six cars were damaged as the vehicle careered down the hill from the haulage firm premises where it had been left parked.

After the heavy lorry had been unloaded and pulled clear, Mr and Mrs Paul Weeks with their daughter Karen, found the front bedroom open to the sky. He explained: “My wife and I with Karen and my mother, were watching television in the back room where we heard this tremendous crash.” The Weeks family have moved into furnished accommodation while their home is repaired. At no. 15, Mrs Maureen Harvey was in her kitchen when she heard “an awful screeching noise.” The lorry thundered past, continuing its plunge over the bank and into the front of no. 13. At no. 11, Mrs Linda Palmer had just finished feeding her son Darren. Her husband, Alan, had a narrow escape: he heard banging from the road and he was just going into the front bedroom to see what was happening when the corner of the lorry burst through the wall into the room. They have been given temporary accommodation in nearby Moreton Park Road by the Rev Peter Willis. Mr George Bennett, who lives with his wife Eileen and his parents-in-law at no. 9, went outside when he heard the noise of cars being hit and as he saw the lorry coming down the hill he ran indoors to give the alarm. “The lorry hit no. 13 but we felt our place lift” he said.

Tests on the lorry carried out later by a Department of the Environment inspector failed to reveal the cause of the accident. 

Gazette article 22 February 1974