Oakridge crash: Driver 'accidentally knocked handbrake'

The ambulance driver allegedly accidentally knocked the handbrake and sent the van rolling down Oakridge Road, just after 9pm last night.

“The ambulance driver accidentally knocked it when getting back into the vehicle after dropping his last patient home.

“He was dragged for a couple of metres down the road and was left lying face down in the road.

“The ambulance continued to roll down the road and hit a parked car – luckily with no one in – then it went through someone’s front garden,” the witness told The Gazette.

The passenger vehicle came crashing into the garden wall of a home on Wateridge Road

The inhabitants of the property on Wateridge Road have described their shock after hearing “a lot of noise” while watching a film.

“I heard a loud bang, I thought it was the bins at first then I realised something had crashed into the wall outside. I looked and there were hazard lights on just outside my window and there was a van in my garden,” the resident said.

Luckily, the van was stopped from crashing into the house by the wall outside – but it caused plenty of damage, including to the resident’s car parked outside.

“I’ve only just paid for its MOT recently too,” she said.

Damage left to the car outside the property

The garden wall itself is completely destroyed by the incident.

“It could have been much worse though, at least no one was seriously injured. I hope the gentleman is ok today. We are all safe and fine, it was just a bit of a shock,” the resident added.

The ambulance driver was described as being “in shock”.

“He had no serious injuries but was mainly in shock but he did have some pain in his right arm and shoulder,” they said.  

An off-duty PCSO rushed to his aid and helped block off the road to oncoming traffic while emergency services arrived at the scene.

A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said: “We were called at 9.06pm last night (10 September) following a collision on Wateridge Road.

“A non-emergency patient transport service ambulance collided with a house.

“The driver sustained an arm injury as a result. No other injuries were reported.”

South Central Ambulance Service has been contacted for comment.