A mother spoke yesterday about her family’s lucky escape after a runaway tanker ploughed through the garden where her children play and came to rest against their bungalow home, crushing a toy picnic table on the way.
The tanker, which carries slurry from septic tanks, had minutes earlier parked at Tore Service Station while the driver put fuel in his tanks.
When he went inside the shop to pay, the lorry rolled out of the forecourt, crossed the A832 Tore to Munlochy road and smashed through the wooden fence into the garden.
Eilidh Robb, 28, of Tore in the Black Isle, was not long out of the house to take her children to school and playgroup, when a friend called to tell her what had happened.
Miss Robb lives in the rented home with partner Gary Murray, 37, and their children seven-year-old Ella, three-year-old Max and 18-month-old Harry.
Yesterday Miss Robb said: “By the time I got home the driver had reversed it back but it would not move very easily. He was very much in shock as well. He said that he had left his handbrake off. He had been filling up and jumped back in to move it forward and went to pay, and when he came out the lorry was in the garden. The police were there as well.
“You cannot make that sort of mistake in those sorts of vehicles. It could have been a lot worse. It was definitely a lucky escape. My children are always running in and out of the house all the time, especially when we are getting ready to go out. They could have easily been hit.”
The incident was reported to police at about 10am on Monday morning.
It is understood the driver of the heavy goods vehicle, operated by Ayrshire-based Billy Bowie, has been charged with careless driving.
At the scene yesterday, pieces of the wooden fence could be seen stacked in the corner of the garden and metal fencing has been erected to fill the gap.
Tread marks were also visible on the lawn and a concrete slab on a path at the front of the house had been cracked.
A police spokesman said: “The heavy goods vehicle crossed the road before going through a garden fence and colliding with the building. Police were in attendance and there were no injuries.
“The lorry driver was outwith the vehicle at the time.”