Van Driver Flees After Telegraph Poleaxe – Like An ‘Earthquake’ Said Residents

Published on: 13 Jun, 2022
Updated on: 14 Jun, 2022

By Hugh Coakley

Madrid Road in Guildford was closed for two hours at around 4pm yesterday (Sunday, June 12) after a van smashed into a telegraph pole, leaving cables blocking the road.

The van’s driver didn’t stop after the incident but fled the scene at speed, it was reported.

The telegraph pole was ripped out of its foundations by the impact. The cables blocked the road and fences on the adjacent properties were smashed.

Residents said the houses shook with the impact. One man said he was cooking when he heard a huge bang and rumbling. “I thought it was an earthquake,” he said.

Henry Walkey, who lives above the laundrette opposite the crash, said: “It must have been some smash to have knocked down that pole. I’m surprised the van was driveable after the crash.

“I’ve got no phone or internet now. I do freelance technical work and I am going to have to look for a solution to get around this.”

An Openreach engineer cut the cables to free the pole. “There will be some disruption to phone and internet,” he said.

An Openreach engineer was at the scene at around 5.30pm to cut the cables, freeing the pole.

The police attended and cordoned off a short section of the road with tape.

The police has confirmed an investigation is under way, saying: “If anyone has any information about the incident, please call Surrey Police on 101.”

Mr Walkey added: “Thank God no-one was hurt. It’s not funny but I heard a man say, in a typical understated British way, ‘I never liked that fence anyway’.”