|
|  |
One of the more
unusual sights to greet a lifeboat crew. The driver of this lorry had somehow managed to drive 8-10 feet over edge of the quay, apparently after waking up in his cab. |
||
 |
When the ILB
arrived on scene he was sitting in the cab demanding,
quite forcefully, to be helped out by the emergency
services personnel in attendance. They were understandably reluctant to get in to the cab given its precarious position. |
|||
 |
After a short time,
the driver decided he could wait no longer and exited the
cab on his own, appearing quite unannounced at the back
of the lorry. He was dressed only in his underpants. As a matter of course he was breathalised and subsequently arrested. |
|||
 |
The recovery was
hampered by the fact that the lorry's brakes appeared to
have jammed on. At one point, a member on the Coastguard
team entered the cab to attempt to release them. The driver also re-appeared after some time, keen to offer advice on how his lorry should be recovered. |
|||
 |
After several hours the recovery crew
managed to haul the lorry back until the front wheels
were against the quay, but it would go no further and a
crane had to be summoned to lift it over the edge. There was even an environmental concern as fluid was leaking from under the lorry into the river. The ILB crew monitored this and kept the authorities informed throughout. The entire operation lasted some 7 hours, during which the ILB stood by in case any of the recovery crew or emergency services personnel should fall into the river. |
|||
 |
||||