‘Italian Job’ cop grabs crash van to stop it falling on to busy road below
THIS is the dramatic moment a policeman used his bare hands to prevent an overturned van plunging 30ft on to a busy road – with the injured driver trapped inside.
Police Constable Martin Willis held on to a wheel as the truck teetered on the edge of a bridge – with heavy winds threatening to topple it at any second. He gripped the vehicle for 15 minutes in bitterly cold weather, the van swaying precariously every time a vehicle sped past on the snowy A1 (M) near Leeds. ‘It was a bit like The Italian Job,’ said PC Willis, referring to the famous movie’s cliff-hanger ending. ‘I was desperate to prevent it falling.’
PC Willis was first to reach the scene shortly before dawn on Friday. The delivery van had skidded off the snowy carriageway and was dangling over the edge of a bridge above the A64. Eventually, the fire brigade secured the vehicle, while the driver was hospitalised with two broken legs.
The driver’s employer said yesterday: ‘Our driver is now out of surgery and doing well.’