Lucky escape for shoppers and traders as out-of-control van demolishes Lymington market stall and smashes into store

SHOPPERS and traders ran for their lives as a van rolled backwards down Lymington’s High Street, demolishing at least one market stall before smashing into a store window.

Witnesses said it was a miracle no one was killed or injured in the incident involving the unoccupied vehicle that had been parked outside Barclays on the road filled with crowds of people during Saturday’s market.

The quick-thinking actions of passers-by who shouted warnings were credited with helping prevent the outcome from being very different.

The van ploughed through a plant stall, completely destroying it and dragging parts of it under its wheels, before it went through the front window of Jojo Maman Bébé, coming to rest just inside and narrowly missing customers. These included a pregnant woman who had entered with her partner just seconds earlier.

The manager of the store, which sells French-influenced clothes for mothers, babies and children, had been serving a customer when the incident took place.

“I heard lots of shouting and thought there might have been some sort of event taking place – I had expected to perhaps see some people coming down the street on bikes,” the manager, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the A&T.

“But as I looked up, this van just came backwards through the window.

“The customer I had in store just grabbed her grandson, and the maternity customer was being comforted by her partner as she’d feared he’d been hit as he was following her inside.

“I was just shocked – it was a bit surreal and it happened really quickly. Obviously, my main concern was the customers in the shop.”

Having ensured no one inside was hurt, the manager went outside to check everyone was alright and found people rallying round to help.

“It’s at times like this when you really see what Lymington is like,” she continued.

“All the other shops were checking we were okay, and the fish and chip shop offered us water. It was just so nice to see the community come together to help.”

The store closed for the rest of the day while the vehicle and some of the debris was cleared, but arrangements for repairs were still being made with insurers on Monday morning.

No structural damage was caused, but the manager added it could be some time before repairs are completed due to the store being housed in a listed building.

Paramedics rushed to the scene following several 999 calls, but a South Central Ambulance Service spokesperson said no one was hurt.

Police also attended, along with a local fire crew.

Residents took to Facebook to express their shock, as well as their amazement that everyone escaped unscathed.

A woman who was working at the demolished plant stall posted: “Feel so lucky to be alive!

“Everyone helped to clean up, thank goodness people shouted to us to try and get out of the way, I felt sorry for the young man whose van it was, should I buy a lottery ticket!”

Another wrote: “It wasn't funny witnessing it. It wasn't funny looking under the van for casualties either.

“The main thing is no one was injured. It looked pretty awful from behind the van as it rolled down the hill. I think the collective weight of the plants helped slow it a little.”

This was not the first time an out-of-control parked car caused destruction in Lymington High Street.

As reported in the A&T, a runaway car narrowly missed a mother and her baby when it rolled down the road and smashed into the front window of the H. E. Figgures toy shop in July 2019.

Again, no one was hurt in this incident, which came about 65 years after a runaway parked police car smashed into the same shop window.