A BREAKDOWN service driver is today recovering from shock after a car collided with his van while he was underneath it.Witnesses told how the driver could have been crushed by the impact after a car skidded on water while he was trying to hook up a crashed van to his own.

A BREAKDOWN service driver is today recovering from shock after a car collided with his van while he was underneath it.

Witnesses told how the driver could have been crushed by the impact after a car skidded on water while he was trying to hook up a crashed van to his own.

The AA driver was lying on the ground hooking his truck up to an Evening Star delivery van, which had been damaged after crashing into a barrier near the roundabout on the A14 sliproad at Stowmarket.

Star delivery driver Lesley Brame told how the driver had to scramble from underneath the van as the skidding car careered towards him.

Mr Brame said: “The driver was underneath the van hooking it up when we both heard some brakes lock.

“I moved out the way and he jumped up from under the truck as another car skidded on water and collided with the van.

“It was more than a near miss - it was so close because if he hadn't have jumped up, he would have been crushed.

“We were both really shaken up because we realised what could have happened.”

Mr Brame, 54, of Hazlitt Road, had arrived at the scene just an hour before to assist his colleague Evening Star delivery driver Rachel Hutchings, who had crashed into the central reservation.

She called the office after the crash and they sent Mr Brame along with another van so she could carry on the deliveries.

After transferring the bundles of papers into the new van, Mrs Hutchings continued with her run and left Mr Brame to wait for the AA.

Mrs Hutchings, who was on her way to drop off some returns in Stowmarket, said: “I started to brake but everything happened in slow motion and I couldn't do anything. I wasn't going too fast because I was aware of the conditions.

“I was due to get a new van on Tuesday so I'm pleased it wasn't given to me before then. I couldn't believe it later when I heard what had happened to the AA driver.”

The accident damaged the suspension on the Evening Star van and dents to both the back and front of it have meant it is practically a write-off.

Even though it was not raining at the time, the road was wet from heavy rain over night and conditions were poor.

n. Were you the AA driver? Contact The Evening Star news desk on 01473 324788 or email starnews@eveningstar.co.uk