A FELIXSTOWE family narrowly escaped death today when their van was left a crumpled wreck after a juggernaut smashed into it on the busy A14.The juggernaut and the van careered off the road and down an embankment into a field just before the Seven Hills interchange.

A FELIXSTOWE family narrowly escaped death today when their van was left a crumpled wreck after a juggernaut smashed into it on the busy A14.

The juggernaut and the van careered off the road and down an embankment into a field just before the Seven Hills interchange.

It was yet another accident on the A14 involving a lorry.

John Bradford and his wife Bernadette, and his sister Daphne Bilbrough, had stopped their van and parked on the verge after suffering a puncture.

Luckily they were standing well away from the vehicle when the lorry struck it, sending it off the road.

The collision happened on the Ipswich bound carriageway just before 11.30am.

The lorry driver, Michael Hanson, of Nelson, Lancashire, was not injured in the accident.

"We have been incredibly lucky. The police have told us we did exactly the right thing by not staying in the vehicle after it broke down. This just shows what good advice that is," said Mr Bradford.

"We just feel it's a miracle. We could easily have been killed."

PC Alan Nixon, of Suffolk Traffic Police Unit, described the family's escape as "a miracle".

He said people should always get out of their vehicles and well away from them if they break down on a major road.

He said the van had been parked partially off the road but partly still on the carriageway when the collision took place.

Mr Hanson, whose truck was carrying two 20ft empty containers, will be interviewed about the incident.

He said it had been a lucky escape but did not want to comment on the circumstances surrounding the accident.

The fire service were called but were stood down when it was clear that no one had been injured.

N Police still investigating two other A14 lorry crashes