Escape from high wire
Page 11
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• Tipper driver David Owen has given up driving after he and a colleague narrowly escaped death when his Volvo FL12 hit two 11,000 volt power lines.
Owen and his workmate Roger Clarke, who work for Derbyshire-based haulier J&D Allsop, were unloading limestone at Bishop Itchington near Banbury 12 days ago. Owen was unscathed but badly shaken after the electricity punched several holes through the body of his truck and set the sheeting on fire. Clarke walked away from his truck seconds before one of the broken lines came to rest on it.
Owen's tipper hit the lines while being eased out of thick mud by a farmer with a fourwheel drive tractor. The farmer was unhurt but was treated for shock. Owen was unavailable to comment this week but Clarke said Owen's life was saved because he jumped from the truck. Firemen refused to fight the fire for 30 minutes until convinced that it was safe.