NEIGHBOURS in a sleepy north Herefordshire hamlet awoke to the sight of a gas tanker on its side just yards from their home.

The Calor gas tanker slid off the lane, down a four-foot drop and landed on its side soon after making a delivery to a farm in Middleton, near Little Hereford, last week.

The sight of flashing lights alerted Jenny and Clive Hodgeman to a problem near their Brook House Barn home at about 8.15pm last Wednesday.

And shortly after Mr Hodgeman had opened the front door to investigate, the driver of the tanker, which contained four tonnes of LPG, came rushing in.

Mrs Hodgeman explained: "The driver came rushing through the front door and mentioned at first he was concerned about a possible leak. That was one of our concerns because it could have been a major problem."

Mr Hodgeman went to the scene of the incident and helped the driver of the tanker to turn off the electrics.

Despite attempts to recover the vehicle that evening, the lane leading to the turkey farm was blocked until almost midday last Thursday.

Iain Carr, site manager at Calor, said heavy rain had caused the vehicle to slide into the ditch.

"The driver was fine and there was no danger of any gas leaking. In fact, there was no danger to people at any time. The only damage to the vehicle was a broken side window caused by a branch."

He said the driver had followed the correct procedure and the vehicles were designed with safety in mind.

Six people were involved in the major recovery operation with company Burrows and Calor's own engineers.

Mrs Hodgeman added: "It is normally very quiet in Middleton and it was probably the most exciting thing that has happened around here for some time."