A lorry stuck in a lane in the village of Forder on the outskirts of Saltash for three days was dramatically removed on Wednesday, October 2.

An 80-tonne crane from Macsalvors in Truro made its way to the village tasked with extracting the vehicle which became wedged beside a house after taking a wrong turn delivering seed to a local farm.

Dry and slightly overcast with no wind, the conditions were perfect for the aerial acrobatics needed to extract the vehicle.

Power was disconnected by the National Grid ahead of the lift to gain access above the lorry, but residents gathered were unfazed with the outage. They convened around the site to watch and film the events unfold to free the vehicle and the village.

The lane was blocked once before, in 2007, but locals agreed there were other times too that vehicles got stuck in the narrow roads. A number 22 bus, a doubledecker, used to pass through the village daily, they explained, until the route was cut. Apparently too many of the low walls surrounding the road fell victim to the bus.

Colin Campbell Brown has lived in Forder for 26 years and celebrated his birthday on the day of the lift. He laughed as he explained, they were going to send a stripper but organised this treat instead!

This isn’t as rare an occurrence as you might expect, he added that he has witnessed two major incidents and regularly seen large vehicles attempting to use the route.

“It’s quite exciting,” he said. “I expect it will be similar to last time, which will see a very large crane coming along before the tractor unit of the lorry being detached from the trailer to allow it to get round the corner.

“Then the trailer itself being lifted over the garage and gardens and placed onto the road, then the tractor unit being reattached and it driving off to the sound of a big cheer.”

However exciting it might be, Colin added that it can be a big inconvenience for residents.

“It’s not been a big problem for us really,” he said. “But for anyone who lives up the top it is. It’s not been too bad until this morning because they could use the lower road, going down to Antony Passage and then through where the National Grid vehicle is but that’s now closed.”

Listening to residents, some pondered whether it wouldn’t have been simpler to just flatten the old garage on the corner and drive the lorry over the top; it would have pleased the owner too, one resident said with a smile: “With a sagging roof, it’s in need of replacing.”

It may have been cheaper too, another local added, who thought that the bill from the day will run into thousands of pounds. Haulage company, Boon Transport, were unsurprisingly reluctant to comment further on the event which attracted so much local attention.

Police, Cornwall Highways, National Grid and representatives from the salvage company Macsalvors mingled with residents and two local TV crews. The 80-tonne crane arrived under police escort and was slowly reversed into place down the long and narrow main Forder road.

The village fell silent as the crane took its position to start the recovery of the articulated lorry. Three times the crane transferred additional ballast from a flatbed trailer to add to the crane’s already substantial weight. With that in place, the long crane arm was extended with chains and strops to attach to the lorry.

While watching the action, Forder resident Viv Courteney-Crabb explained that the driver had been there the whole three days, sleeping in his cab, and cared for by this tight-knit community. They provided him with sandwiches, soup and tea, and even a Shepherd’s Pie on what they hoped would be the last evening for him stuck in a lane in Saltash.

Watching the lift, the driver chatted easily with the locals but wouldn’t give any comments to the media. The hoist began with the lorry inched upwards in front of the house until it cleared the roofline. Once clear of all further obstructions it was manoeuvred over the rooftops and lowered to the road.

The lorry tyres touched down to the sound of cheering, and a bell tolled by a resident perched in their garden taking in the action. Just one and a half hours after the crane’s arrival, the driver reunited the tractor cab to the trailer and began the slow drive out of the village; under police escort and to cheers and waves from locals, three days after its surprisingly arrival, the lorry had gone.

The excitement of the morning was over and life returned to normal for the local community who rallied around their driver. Of all the places to get stuck in a lorry, it seems that Forder is probably the most welcoming.