Lorry crashes into cottage

The impact caused damage to walls inside the house

A north Devon couple had a lucky escape when an articulated lorry crashed into their cottage while they were asleep.

Lynne Hamley was in bed at her home at Witheridge Place in Ilfracombe when the incident happened shortly before 0700 GMT on Friday.

The driver of the supermarket lorry had taken a wrong turning and ended up on a narrow country lane.

The vehicle scraped along the side of the building as the driver tried desperately to negotiate the narrow lane.

You could hear the stones in the wall crunching Lynne Hamley

As well as hitting the outside of the house, the impact of the vehicle caused some plaster and stone to come off walls inside.

Lynne Hamley said: "There was a long scraping sound and you could hear the stones in the wall crunching and falling down.

"I opened the bedroom window and the window actually hit the lorry.

"I thought 'It's going to come straight into the bedroom. I have to get out of here'."

An engineer from North Devon District Council has been sent to the scene of the accident to assess the damage.

The major problem now is how the lorry is going to be removed from the lane.

It is parked in a dead end road with no room to turn.