Gardener's lucky escape as van smashes greenhouse

The camper van landed in a greenhouse

A keen gardener was saved by his lunch when a camper van plunged through a wall and fell onto the greenhouse where he had been working.

Colin Townsend, 78, had just popped inside for a meal with his wife when the smash happened.

The van driver, neighbour Bob Gray, was also unscathed after the accident in Johnshaven, Aberdeenshire.

Mr Gray thinks he hit the wrong pedal during a manoeuvre while wearing wider shoes than he was used to.

Eileen Townsend, 76, said her husband had been in the greenhouse shortly before the crash on Thursday afternoon.

'White as a sheet'

"He spends most of his time there, and had come in for lunch", she told BBC Scotland.

"We were just finishing when the dogs started to bark. We thought it was just the postie.

"Colin went out to greet him but it was Bob, who was as white as a sheet and said 'something terrible has happened'."

The fire service was called to crash in Johnshaven

She said the the vehicle was "precariously balanced" and the greenhouse - made of bricks and wood - was "totally demolished".

Mrs Townsend said: "The fire brigade attended and said they'd never seen anything like it.

"The main thing is Bob was unscathed. It was an accident-and-a-half.

"We we just mighty relieved at the end of the day. He was OK, how on Earth he walked away I'll never know."

Mr Gray 70, told BBC Scotland: "I was wearing wider shoes than usual, I must have hit the accelerator and it surged forward.

"The wall crumbled. It happened in a second. I then just stepped out."

The best way to remove the vehicle is being assessed.