Gran’s dream move in tatters as lorry overturns

3 hours ago

Amanda Whiteand Holly Phillips,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

A grandmother's dream move to the Yorkshire coast turned into a nightmare when her removal van overturned in high winds, with precious possessions ending up in skips.

Janet Hall, previously of Hampshire, had carefully packed her belongings for the move to Hornsea on Saturday, but the van toppled over on the A15 in Lincolnshire.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said it had called a contractor, which in turn carried out a safety assessment and determined it would be "impossible to upturn the vehicle in its entirety".

They said it was decided to "recover the vehicle and the debris in the most safe and efficient way possible", with the firm unloading the van and taking the contents to its depot.

Police confirmed the items were loaded into industrial skips.

Ms Hall's family claimed most of her possessions were in tatters.

Ms Hall was too upset to describe events, but daughter Anita Breary said: "Her whole life was in that van.

Everything was covered in mud."

Ms Breary said her mother's electric bed was twisted, while reclining chairs and a record collection were also ruined.

An unknown person recovered a small box containing the ashes of Ms Hall's late husband, Roy.

Ms Breary's sister, Maxine Rolling, said the family was told by the contractor they could visit the depot on Monday to collect their mother's possessions.

However, when they got there they found the majority of the items had been ruined.

Ms Rolling said a depot employer told them she "couldn't believe" they had earlier been told they could collect items.

"It was very hard going through the skips," said Ms Rolling. "It was really overwhelming seeing all of your childhood memories all just disregarded."

The BBC contacted the company, which declined to comment. It referred us to the police.

Lincolnshire Police said the contractor had deemed it "structurally unsafe to unload [the van] manually", which necessitated the use of machinery.

Since the weekend, residents in Hornsea have responded by donating furniture to Ms Hall.

Ms Rolling said: "We are really grateful to everyone who has contributed. They have been absolutely fantastic.

Life goes on and we have got to do what we can for mum.

"This was supposed to be a move for her best life and that's what we want, we are doing what we can and as much as we can."