A shocked bloke saw a van accidentally off take the entire roof from the entrance to a residential car park in Exeter.
The resident, who doesn't want to reveal his name, was inside a property in the Steeple Drive area of Alphington when he heard an unusually loud noise so, as anybody would, nipped over to the window to see what was going on.
The resident told DevonLive: "The driver of the van was helping a friend or a family member move in.
"Suddenly I heard this noise. I can't even describe it, as soon as I heard it I flew to the window. I saw the driver jump out of the van and he was screaming, effing and blinding.
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"The roof ripped right off the entrance pillars and was on top of the van."
Fire crews were called out to the scene and were later joined by the AA.
The witnesses said: "I spoke to the driver, he says they are trying to get hold of the car park owners to see if they can pull the roof off of the van, because obviously if they do that it will smash into pieces."
The resident says he was told by the driver that the van is a rental and that they may have to pay for a crane to remove the roof.
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He said: "The driver informed me that the van is a rental, and said the insurance (company) refused to help, the rental company refused to help, the firefighters said they didn't know what to do and he'd have to potentially pay privately for a crane, and AA then arrived as and they were baffled on what to do or how to help."
He went on to say that although it was an unusual occurrence, he was surprised it hadn't happened before due to the setup of the entrance.
He added: "Usually that roof is sat up on pillars, and as he has gone to drive through he has made a bad judgment error - and at some speed, I can imagine - and taken it off.
"I am surprised it hasn't happened sooner because when I went outside to see what had happened, I saw that one of the pillars which was in the ground was soaking wet and looked rotten.
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"It's made me think, with all of the wind that we have had, how hasn't this happened sooner."
A spokesperson for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said: "Middlemore crew attended the incident from 11.15am – 12.21pm.
"They made sure the vehicle was safe. There was no major damage to the roof."
Topics: UK News
Claire Reid