Sat nav gets 40ft lorry stuck

A 40ft articulated lorry became wedged down a narrow country lane - after following directions from a sat nav.

The Maxi haulage lorry was travelling down the lane in Halton, near Chirk, even though the road is signed as unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles.

Check out our photo gallery and read TODAY'S UPDATE on the story.

Rescue teams were called out to winch the vehicle out. Lawrence Griffiths, of recovery group L&D Bros, was yesterday called to pull the vehicle out but he said they had to stop when darkness set in.

He said: "We got it out about five times but we got to a different part of the road and the road subsided and the lorry slipped sideways. The council is coming out this morning."

He added they expected to be there for most of the day again today.

"It is a long, slow, laborious job. We are taking it slowly, a bit at a time," he said.

Residents who live and work in the area are up in arms, saying it has become a regular occurrence.

They claim that in the past three or four years lorries have continually tried to drive down the lane, choosing to ignore a road sign and relying on their sat navs

Margaret and John Evans, who run two farms either side of where the lorry got stuck, said it is inconvenient because it is a busy lane for the tractors.

Mr Evans added: "I have lived here all my life and people in cars are frightened to come down here, never mind lorries. It is not a road for this sort of thing."

Son Richard Evans said they regularly have to turn lorries back.

He said: "This is the furthest anyone has got. This is the worst ever."

Gerry Atkinson, chairman of the Maxi Group, said they don't supply sat navs in their trucks because they are not suitable for HGVs in this country.

But he added: "The driver had his own sat nav. He claims it sent him down there."

He said the driver should have been travelling on the A5.

The lorry stuck in a lane due to using sat nav at Halton, near Chirk.

The sign warning the road is unsuitable for HGVs.

Another view of the lorry stuck in the lane.