A CHAUFFEUR to celebrities almost ended up seeing stars of a different kind when he narrowly avoided being crushed by a sheet metal fence which collapsed as he was walking past.

Richard Widdowson was walking down Worcester's Henwick Road having dropped off his limousine at the Mobile Auto Doctor garage.

As he passed the temporary fencing near the pedestrian lights by the junction with Hylton Road he saw the fence wobbling as it was blown by gusts of wind.

"I was about three-quarters of the way along the fence," said Mr Widdowson of Warndon Villages.

"I saw the fence was moving and I put my hand out to stop it. But then I thought this is going to go and I jumped out of the way. Then the whole thing came crashing down.

"If I had been 60 or 80 years old I wouldn't be here right now.

"I just hope this doesn't happen to anyone else."

Mr Widdowson owns the limousine company Elite Chauffeur Cars and, as well as providing transport for weddings, he also drives for celebrities ranging from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Prince Charles.

In May of this year he drove for the band Westlife while they were appearing in Birmingham.

The fencing has been erected as part of a private development to build four houses on land adjacent to 174 Henwick Road.

The developers of the site could not be contacted as the Evening News went to press.