Lorry crashes feet from campers

The lorry landed just two feet from one of the men's tents

Three men on a fishing trip had a lucky escape when a 40 tonne lorry careered off a road and crashed just 2ft from one of their tents.

The men, from Hartlepool, were camping beside Auchenreoch Loch, Crocketford, nine miles from Dumfries, when the crash happened at 0400 BST on Saturday.

The lorry left the A75 Gretna-Stranraer road, went down an embankment, crashed into trees and landed beside the tent.

The driver, 66, from Mauchline in Ayrshire, received serious injuries.

He is being treated at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.

The shocked fishermen, who have not been named, helped the injured man from his cab before realising just how close they had come to being hit by the lorry.

It had been heading west to the ferry port at Stranraer when the accident a happened.

It's an absolute miracle that they survived this. If it hadn't been for the trees they would have been crushed to death Steve Bean Local hotelier

The emergency services were called to the scene and traffic was delayed for much of the day as work went on to retrieve the vehicle, which was fully loaded.

The fishermen had camped overnight on the banks of the loch which is popular for coarse fishing, boating and water-skiing.

Steve Bean, from the Lochview Motel and Restaurant about 300 yards from the scene of the accident, said: "The men come here fishing regularly but I only know them by their first name.

"It's an absolute miracle that they survived this. If it hadn't been for the trees they would have been crushed to death. The lorry was ready for turning over but it went down through the trees.

"They were so badly shocked by the crash when they realised that they could have been killed, that they went back home. They were up for the May Bank Holiday weekend but it could have turned into a real tragedy.

"One of them was able to joke about it after. He told me that they wanted up early but they didn't want an early call like that. They told me they were going back home to get drunk after surviving that."

Tent moved

A police officer at the scene said: "They are certainly three lucky men. If it hadn't been for the trees then it would have gone right over their tent.

"They will never be luckier than this. It happened at around 4am and they could easily have been killed."

Local farmer Clark Lamont added: "I've never seen anything like it. It appears they had three tents and they moved one of the tents at night or it would have been right in the path of the lorry. It was only the trees that saved them."

A Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary spokesman said: "The white Scania artic was travelling in a westerly direction at the time of the crash and was pulling a red coloured curtain-sided trailer bearing the name 'Montgomery'.

"Stranraer Police would like to speak with any driver who was travelling between Dumfries and Castle Douglas between the hours of 0400 and 0430 on the A75, and may have seen the vehicle."

Police are also keen to speak to an HGV driver who was following the crashed lorry but left, having initially stopped at the scene.