A BURGER van boss had a lucky escape when a car left the road and crashed into his vehicle.

Elliot Furniss

THE manager of a fast food outlet in a lay-by in Essex had a lucky escape yesterday when a driver lost control of his car and careered into the van.

A BURGER van boss had a lucky escape when a car left the road and crashed into his vehicle.

The car was heading down the A120 dual carriageway towards Colchester close to the junction with the A133 at about 9.30am yesterday when the driver appeared to lose control, leaving the road and spinning, before crashing into the Hot Stuff burger van.

The silver Renault Clio was badly damaged in the crash, as was the burger van. The manager of the business was in the van at the time of the crash, but escaped without injury

Stephen Wright, who runs Lillie's Lunchbox, stationed in the lay-by opposite, said it was lucky that there were no customers outside the van at the time of the accident.

He said: “A car was driving toward Colchester and managed to spin and hit the burger van. It could have been worse, but there were no customers there at the time. Fortunately this time of year we're both quite quiet.”

Mr Wright, who started trading in the lay-by about six months ago, said the police and ambulance had arrived on the scene quickly and helped release the driver from the car, which was later taken away by a tow truck.

A spokeswoman for the East of England Ambulance Service said the driver of the car, a woman in her 50s, was checked over at the scene before being taken to Colchester General Hospital for further treatment.

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to contact Stanway road policing unit on 0300 333 4444.