The calm of Wednesday lunchtime, July 31, was rudely interrupted by a driver losing control of his car coming around the corner of Mermaid Street into West Street.
The crash of several hundred pounds of cast iron downpipe smashing on to the bonnet of a small BMW caused residents to leave their homes to see what had happened. At the same time the vehicle had hit an illegally parked car which shunted into another vehicle also illegally parked on the pavement.
The driver was clearly badly shaken, but miraculously unhurt, and was fortunately helped by kind neighbours with medical backgrounds who took good care of him. The police arrived rapidly and took control of the incident.
The owners of the parked damaged car returned almost an hour after the accident and were devastated to find their car a write-off.
One of the owners of the house, Niki Stuart, expressed relief that nobody was injured in the accident and said: “People constantly park outside our house, next to no-parking signs. Parking on the pavement makes it really difficult for families with push chairs or wheel chairs to pass with ease.”
This incident meant that the road was closed for two hours.
Image Credits: Andy Stuart .