Crashed lorry embedded in church

Firefighters examine the lorry cab embedded in the church

A driver and a passenger escaped with minor injuries when their lorry embedded itself in a church after ploughing into trees and a parked car.

The truck went out of control early on Monday as it drove over a roundabout near Wimborne in Dorset, narrowly missing a bollard and a lamppost.

It then careered through the gardens of nearby houses before smashing into All Saints Church on Wimborne Road West.

The church has now been declared "structurally unsafe".

Laurie Crow, who has been a vicar of the 70-year-old church for more than four years, was asleep when the accident happened shortly after 0500 BST.

Vicar Laurie Crow was grateful nobody was seriously injured

He said: "I was in bed at the time at the vicarage. My church warden told me what had happened after being alerted by the police.

"We are deeply shocked at the damage - there is a gaping hole in part of the wooden roof.

"We are grateful that miraculously no-one has been seriously injured.

"The porch has also come down and at the moment, it would appear as if the cab of the lorry is propping that part of the roof up."

The crash caused a gas leak outside the building, which had to be isolated by fire crews.

When firefighters arrived the lorry driver and his passenger had already escaped from the cab.

They are now being treated in hospital.

The nearby A31, which was closed as a result of the accident, has now been reopened.

But the B3073 Wimborne Road West junction remains closed, a Dorset Police spokesman said.