Delivery van leaves trail of destruction in Paulsgrove after smashing into parked cars

The hapless driver was spotted by a neighbour who looked out of the window and took a picture of the Ford Transit van after hearing a ‘loud bang’ in Allaway Avenue, Paulsgrove, at 2.30am on Monday morning.

Vehicle owners were left angry and shocked after waking up to discover their cars damaged – with a Volkswagen Golf thought to be a write-off after being crushed.

Debris from four cars, including a Renault Sport and Hyundai iX35, was left scattered along the road as three cars lost wing mirrors.

The vehicle, belonging to The Furniture Factory in North End, only stopped further down the road after a mangled front wheel brought the ill-fated journey to an end.

Gary Butcher, 51, whose Golf suffered the most damage during the rampage, forcing him to take a day off work to resolve matters, said: ‘The van has crashed into the first car, jolting it forward and leaving it with a flat tyre.

‘You might have expected the driver to stop at that point but he carried on another 200 yards and smashed into three other cars, including mine, which looks like being a write-off.

‘He then carried on another 500 yards before the van wouldn’t go any further. Someone had heard a loud bang and then saw him trying to reverse and took a picture. The van ended-up on the side of the road before it was recovered in the morning.

‘The lad came to see me in the morning, he was very upset. He said a cat or a fox ran out in front of him and he had to swerve out of the way.

‘The main thing is no-one was hurt. The police said they wouldn’t investigate because no-one was hurt.’

Another household from along the road had two cars damaged during the reckless episode of driving. Joyce Stokes, whose Hyundai was scraped, leaving a wing mirror on the ground, said. ‘I was shocked when I came out and saw the car,’ she said. ‘It’s been inconvenient.’

Joyce’s daughter, Emma Stokes, speaking of damage to her sister’s car said: ‘It’s caused stress and frustration, especially for my sister as she has been unable to use the car and was left wondering how she would get her children to school.’

Lee Cross, owner of The Furniture Factory, said: ‘(The driver) said a cat or fox ran out into the road causing him to swerve out of the way. He has been in shock at what happened.’

A police spokeswoman said: ‘We had a report at 5.57am today that a Transit van had collided with three parked cars on Allaway Avenue, Portsmouth.

‘No injuries were reported. Anyone with information can call 101, quoting 44200069813.’