Family dogs stranded as lorry strikes bridge and topples into garden

A man has told how his garden wall has been crushed for the second time in a year by lorries striking a railway bridge next to his home.

Adam Coleman said he was stuck outside his house in Coombe Valley Road, in Dover, Kent, for hours on Tuesday after an articulated vehicle became wedged underneath the bridge and toppled into his front garden at around 7.30am.

Mr Coleman and his younger sister Lauren, who work at different branches of McDonald’s in the town, rushed home about an hour later when news of the collision spread on social media.

The 29-year-old, who lives in the house with his parents and sister, said he discovered the lorry had crushed part of the garden wall and was blocking the path to the front door, trapping their two dogs inside.

He said: “Lauren was distraught when we heard what happened, she was worried about the dogs being trapped inside. I was too, and we were worried about what damaged had been caused.

“But when we got there I could hear Alfie and Bailey barking so I knew they were OK.

“We couldn’t get to them or let them out but they were OK. We saw the damage wasn’t too serious. Part of the garden wall was crushed and a wheelie bin was stuck between the lorry and the pavement.”

Mr Coleman – who told his parents David and Michelle of the crash by video call while they were on holiday in the Dominican Republic – said queues of traffic began to build and it was 3pm before a recovery truck arrived to start moving the lorry.

The incident also caused some minor disruption to train services.

Mr Coleman added: “My parents are frustrated because this keeps happening. This is the second time this has happened.”

Police officers, council highways and Network Rail workers spent most of the day at the scene.

A Kent Police spokesman said there were no injuries.

A Network Rail spokesman said the bridge had not been damaged and trains were slowed but not delayed.