WITNESSES say it was a miracle no one was killed after a 44-tonne lorry left a three-mile trail of destruction before crashing into a wall next to a primary school.

The driver reportedly suffered a stroke at the wheel as he drove through Newnham High Street, with the vehicle smashing into at least six parked cars and knocking over signposts as it mounted pavements and verges.

One couple who were taking their shopping out of their car outside the Newnham Club had a lucky escape when the lorry smashed into the Nissan last Thursday afternoon (January 18), dragging the vehicle 10 metres into another parked car which was shunted into others.

The truck driver, who has been hailed ‘a hero’ for avoiding a worse catastrophe, struggled to keep the lorry on the road as it careered out of the village, through Broadoak and onto Westbury-on-Severn, where it hit a wall yards from the village’s primary school.

Children were getting ready to be picked up by their parents shortly before 3pm when the lorry finally came to a halt.

Mike James from Cinderford was driving in the opposite direction when he came on the scene and rushed to help the stricken driver.

“Had the high kerbs not been there in Westbury, he would have certainly driven into one of those homes for sure,” he said.

“Apparently, the driver was having a stroke, but I did stop and he said he was ok. I didn’t really do anything myself, just stopped to see if he was OK, which he said he was, and then just arranged for the emergency services to be called.”

Posting on Facebook minutes after the incident, he warned: “A lorry has crashed...hitting loads of cars in Newnham and ripping up the verges for two miles.”

Another witness posted: “It’s three miles of chaos. It was really unnerving,” while another said the truck had repeatedly driven up onto the kerb in Newnham and they were “amazed” no one was killed.

Zoe Grice from Newnham said: “He’s gone off road several times on the way out of Newnham and gone off road and caused damage to road signs just after Broadoak bridge... and then it’s hit the stone wall all the way to where the lorry has finally stopped.”

The lorry driver, who is in his 50s and was working for Matlock-based haulage company BJ Waters, was recovering in hospital this week after an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain, said a company spokesman.

And despite the destruction, many residents have labelled him ‘a hero.’

Keith Bell wrote to the his employers saying: “I simply wanted to pass on, via your company, the grateful thanks of so many people in our communities to your driver who suffered a major medical incident at the wheel whilst driving on the A48.

“From the small amount we know of what actually went on, his actions in avoiding a major catastrophe were nothing short of heroic.”

The A48 through Westbury was closed for several hours after the crash, with traffic queuing back in both directions between Elton Corner and Stantway.

Speaking on the day of the incident, a Gloucestershire Police spokeswoman said the force had received “a number of reports about a lorry being driven erratically.”

The spokeswoman added that no one was injured in the collisions, to her knowledge.