Imagine being sat in your living room when a bus comes speeding down your front lawn and stops inches away from your window. That’s exactly what happened to 85-year-old Lily Mulkeen. She was sat in her favourite chair, eating her porridge when the ten ton vehicle careered off the road straight into her front garden.
The number 32 service demolished her hedge, flattened her garden and stopped just two inches from the wall of her two bed semi in Torquay, Devon.
Lily, who is housebound with arthritis, was sat in front of the TV eating her breakfast when the incident happened.
Despite the on-goings outside, Lily said she didn’t hear a thing, and was unaware of the entire incident until her carer, Tracy Cook came running into the living room and pulled back the blinds.
Lily said: “Tracy told me that a bus had crashed in the front garden. I told her not to be so daft because I didn’t see anything. I didn’t even pull the blinds back to see. When Tracy took a look I was quite shocked. I was a bit shaken. But I finished my breakfast.”
Tracy said that she immediately rang 999 after checking that the driver was ok.
She said: “I rang for an ambulance and asked the driver, who was also on the phone, if he was OK. He gestured that he was.”
Local Resident Eddie Harvey told reporters that the bus was still ticking over and the driver was outside when it started to move off. He said that the driver legged it to get back on board but he could not stop the crash.
A fire spokesman said: “It was close, but no one was injured in the incident. We understand there had been a fault on the bus and the driver got everyone out before it rolled off.”
A Stagecoach spokesman commented: “We are treating this incident very seriously and have investigated a though investigation of what happened. Thankfully no passengers were aboard the vehicle at the time and the driver is unharmed.
“We can offer no further comment at this time as we must wait until the investigation has been completed.
“However, we would like to assure Mrs Mulkeen that we will do everything possible to help her restore her garden to its former glory.”
