IPSWICH: It was a scene that would not be out of place in a slapstick comedy.

A bizarre collision in Ipswich yesterday saw one man knocked off a step ladder when a driver inadvertently reversed into another car – after first crashing into a signpost.

The 92-year-old’s red Volkswagen Polo collided with a parking sign outside a row of shops near Northgate High School.

Police said the man’s foot slipped off the clutch, causing the car to reverse rapidly before smashing into the back of a parked Citro�n Saxo and hurtling towards Gary Aldred, who was busily renovating a shop-front in Sidegate Lane West.

Mr Aldred, 58, was forced to jump away from the impact to safety when he saw the car on a collision course for his step ladder, at around 3pm yesterday. Both he and the driver were left shocked but otherwise uninjured.

Mr Aldred was helping to refurbish a shop in time for his daughter’s Ace Hair and Beauty salon to open in March. He said: “I was on the ladder working away when I heard some kids outside the Co-op scream.

“I turned to see this poor old boy reversing into a Saxo and then towards me. But I was able to jump off in time.”

Mr Aldred was left shaken by the accident but, along with other onlookers, quickly went to the driver’s aid. “He looked so pale,” he recalled. “I thought he might have had a heart attack. But we got him out and took him into the shop next door.”

Pc John Clarke, one of the first officers on scene, was equally surprised no one was hurt. He said: “Paramedics were dealing with an incident nearby and arrived quickly. But though the driver was a bit shaken there were no injuries.

“Thankfully school had not yet finished – otherwise there may have been children outside at the time.”

Although no one was hurt in the crash, a signpost and the step ladder were badly damaged and the Volkswagen was towed away.

n Did you witness the crash? Have you experienced a similar story? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk