Mum’s fears for family as tanker skids into garden

Woman’s crash barrier plea after lorry careers through fence

A mother-of-two has pleaded with council officials to install a crash barrier after an oil tanker narrowly missed her family home.

The vehicle skidded on black ice on the outskirts of Stanley early yesterday morning, crashing through a fence and coming to a rest just three steps from Paula Cunningham’s front door.

The 36-year-old said she had been snoozing in bed when she heard her nine-year-old son screaming as he watched the 26-tonne vehicle career towards the building.

Paula said: “I’d just snoozed my alarm and was lying there thinking about getting up when I heard a skid and a rumble.

“I thought that whatever it was was going to come into the bedroom beside me.

“My youngest son was sitting at the living-room window looking out because he’d seen car skidding on the corner already that morning, and he screamed – he got a fright.

“I jumped out of bed and ran through. He ran out of the room – he’s been watching too many films and thought it would explode.”

She said vehicles crashing through the fence were a frequent winter occurrence, and has been asking Perth and Kinross Council to install a crash barrier for around three years, after her neighbour was hit by a car which came to a rest on Paula’s front doorstep. She said: “This happens every year. “We’ve lived here for 10 or 11 winters and we get at least three vehicles through the fence every winter because it’s such a bad bend.

“It doesn’t matter how slow they are going they just keep coming straight.

“I asked about a crash barrier being put in front of the fence but I was told as there was no danger to vehicles on our side of the fence they wouldn’t do it – a crash barrier is to protect drivers from a danger on the other side.

“I don’t feel very safe – I have two boys and I’m terrified something is going to happen when they are walking out of the house.”

Duncan Ross, the transport and operations director at Oilfast, which owns the tanker, said they were investigating the incident and would repair the damage.

A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council said: “We are aware of the issues at this bend and although the site does not match the criteria for a crash barrier, we will be meeting with the resident to discuss what other measures can be put in place.”

I have two boys and I’m terrified something is going to happen when they are walking out of the house

Picture: Steven Brown. Paula Cunningham’s nine-year-old son screamed in terror as the tanker headed towards their Stanley home.

The alarming incident took place not far from the village primary school.