Chaos reigned when a construction lorry got stuck in a York street while trying to negotiate a corner.

The story began to unfold when lorry driver Robert Found, working for Peacock Brothers plant hire, attempted to turn his vehicle from Grosvenor Terrace into Grosvenor Road, Bootham.

But to his dismay, cars parked on either side made it impossible to get round without hitting them.

Unable to move forward, it became apparent that he could not go backward because of the likelihood of hitting cars parked on the tight one-way street that is Grosvenor Terrace.

An impasse was reached and the lorry remained where it was for nearly three hours, to the consternation of motorists behind. Other drivers did manage to find an alternative route but not without a number of three-point turns.

Onlookers said the police were called by four different people to come and help but no officers arrived.

It was not until the arrival on the scene of the driver of one of the parked cars blocking the lorry's way that the lorry could finally move off again.

Mr Found, from Harrogate, had been working on the Persimmon Homes site at the top of Grosvenor Terrace and was taking earth away from the construction site.

He said: "This was only meant to take us one day, but we're going to have to come back again now.

"I had already been round once and there'd been no problem. But between then and when I came round again, someone else had parked at the end of the road.

"I thought there was no way I would be able to get round."

York police said today they had no record of the incident.

Updated: 15:54 Friday, March 09, 2001