Residents in a York street were today seeking compensation after a van mounted a kerb, smashed through a wall and tore up four front gardens in a row.

Neighbours agreed it was a miracle nobody was hurt when the vehicle ricocheted from one property to the next.

A tangled row of concrete-mounted wrought iron railings lay uprooted in its wake. The drama happened when the Ford Iveco van, which had a small crane attachment on the back, left Poppleton Road, crashed through a low wall and ploughed into the garden of number 11.

But it didn't stop there. It carried straight on into the garden of number 12, and then careered on again, into number 13's garden, where it finally ground to a halt, shoving a wrought iron fence through a hedge and yanking up the railings in number 14. They in turn were uprooted and ended up poking into the garden of number 15.

One of the residents, Joyce Belt, 70, said: "I have lived here 43 years and nothing like this has ever happened before.

"There was an almighty bang, and when we came out to look, our front garden was in a right state. How on earth nobody was killed I don't know."

And a neighbour, young mother-of-one Liz Pocklington, said: "The van went past the window, juddering along as it hit things. It was quite frightening. It only damaged bricks and mortar, and we can put that back, but Good God, it was a lucky escape for all of us.

"If anybody had been walking along the pavement or in any of the gardens, I dread to think what would have happened."

She said the residents were today seeking compensation from the company which owned the van.

Police arrested a man after the incident which occurred on Saturday evening.

The van's owners were unavailable for comment today.

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