A SERVICE station assistant has spoken of the moment a lorry crashed into the canopy of his Royal Wootton Bassett garage.

Barry Pendry, 37, was getting the newspapers ready when he heard the crunch at around 4.30am this morning. 

“I just heard this grinding noise,” he told the Adver. 

A lorry had hit the bottom of the Swindon Road Esso garage’s forecourt canopy, knocking part of the steel structure to the ground. 

Amazingly, the vehicle only caused largely superficial damage, with two of the four pumps still open. The shop also remains open for business.

Garage owner Sean Prowse said an engineer had been out by 7am to assess the damage and confirm it was safe to open.

On Monday, they would be stripping back the metal sheeting. He hoped the business would be trading as normal by midday tomorrow.