A BUNGALOW had a brush with disaster when a heavy goods vehicle skidded down a hill towards it in icy conditions – stopping just short of the front wall.

The incident, involving a Norbert Dentressangle lorry, happened in Middleton One Row, near Darlington, early this morning (Tuesday, December 11).

It appears the lorry driver lost control as the vehicle came down Hill Rise onto The Front, ripping up a grass verge in front of the property, coming to a standstill before it could hit the wall. Nobody was hurt. 

The property’s owner, Ian Brown, 68, said: “I built this bungalow in 1965, with my parents, and this is the first incident of this kind in nearly 50 years.

“When I went out to walk my dog, at about 6pm on Monday, the road looked like a sheet of glass.”

Staff from Darlington Borough Council’s street scene department were busy putting grit down on Tuesday morning, while Mr Brown worked to tidy up the verge.

He said: “It is fortunate there was no one hurt, I have never seen the roads this bad through frost.”

A council spokeswoman said: "The area at Middleton One Row was gritted last night and again at 5am this morning as part of our routine gritting rounds.

 

"Areas can become icy again when rain falls in freezing conditions."

Mr Brown and his parents made headlines in The Northern Echo in the 1960s, as people building their own homes was less common than it is now.

The cottage was initially called Harmony, a commodity Mr Brown joked was in short supply on Tuesday morning.