A LORRY driver "miraculously" escaped serious injury in a crash at an accident black spot, despite writing off part of his vehicle.

The 50-year-old was driving a Nestl HGV fully loaded with chunky KitKats, which left the A19 and smashed into trees near Crockey Hill, south of York, yesterday.

Emergency service crews initially feared the smash had left him badly injured, but when they arrived they found he had been pulled free of the lorry by a passing motorist and had suffered only cuts and bruises.

Four fire engines, along with police and ambulance crews, attended the scene. The driver was given first aid, including a neck collar and oxygen therapy, before ambulance crews took him to York Hospital with injuries to his face, neck and lower left arm.

The lorry had been driving towards Selby when it went off the road to its offside at about 11.30am.

First on the scene after the crash was Dave Wolf, a salesman and van driver for Forge Carpets And Beds in Crockey Hill - based only yards away from the scene of the accident.

Mr Wolf, 49, from South Bank, York, said: "I was coming back from a delivery in York, ambling along on the A19 listening to the radio. All of a sudden, the wagon in front of me missed the bend altogether, and carried on, ploughing through trees by the road.

"The truck was ripped to pieces. I pulled my van straight up and I was running into the woods before I knew what was going on. When I got to the cab, I wasn't expecting to find anyone alive.

"Another lad came over and together we got the door open. There was a tiny pocket where the driver was hunched up. He was very badly cut and bruised, but we managed to get him out - we didn't want the wagon to go up in flames with him in it.

"We got him some cushions and a blanket from the van and made him comfortable while another guy phoned the emergency services. They were there within 15 minutes.

"It's horrendous. Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. The wagon demolished half the forest. If you were a betting man, you wouldn't have put money on him getting out alive. I was expecting to pull out arms and legs out of that cab. His guardian angel must have been watching over him. It's a miracle. He has got be the world's luckiest truck driver."

The road was closed from 7pm while recovery experts hauled the vehicle free of the road, with cars diverted on to the A64 and A162 via Tadcaster. It reopened at 3am.

Updated: 09:46 Friday, September 09, 2005