A lorry found itself wedged in a narrow country lane in Forder near Saltash, Cornwall, necessitating the deployment of a crane for its removal. The road haulage truck from Boons Transport, located in Peterborough, became stuck on Monday while attempting to deliver seed to a nearby farm. Despite a ‘no heavy goods vehicle’ sign posted on the road, the driver proceeded down the narrow lane before becoming immobilised.
Efforts to extract the lorry spanned three days until an 80-tonne crane was brought to the scene on Wednesday. The load of seed was carefully removed from the truck by a forklift tractor in preparation for the lift. Additionally, power cables above the site had to be temporarily dismantled to facilitate access to the trailer and cab for their removal. Surrounding roads were closed by Devon and Cornwall Police to aid in the recovery operation.
This incident mirrored a similar occurrence in 2007 when a lorry also needed a crane for its extraction at the same location. A local resident remarked, “Having a lorry stuck in the road here every 16 years is probably the most interesting thing that happens here.” Another local noted the comparative size of the current stuck lorry to its predecessor from 16 years prior.
Pictures captured the intricate operation of hoisting the lorry out of its predicament using the substantial crane. One observer shared, “They’ve brought in an 80-tonne crane to lift it out. The guy who is in charge of the crane operation was the same man who lifted the last lorry out that got stuck 16 years ago.”
Overall, the successful removal of the lorry brought relief to the local community and served as a testament to the expertise of the crane operators involved in the operation.