A lorry that ploughed into a line of parked cars in Crossflatts left seven damaged vehicles strewn across Keighley Road after the early morning smash.

The accident happened at 5.20am last Thursday when the articulated wagon heading towards Bingley rounded a bend and then drove headlong into a blue Nissan Micra at the back of a queue of empty vehicles just before the Micklethwaite Lane junction.

It shunted the Micra some 30 yards as vehicles in front were hit and then moved left and right, with one car ending on its side in the road and another rammed up onto the pavement.

Civil engineer Gary Nixon was just readying for work and minutes from being at his Transit van, which was spun into the carriageway by the force of the impact.

“I was just putting on work trousers ready to set off when there was this enormous bang.

“I ran straight out the door in my pants and socks and there was this wagon on the other side of the road. There were cars and debris everywhere. The driver was standing by the lorry on the other side of the road,” said Mr Nixon, who has lived in the terrace of houses for 32 years.

“It’s shaken me up a bit because another couple of minutes and I’d have been out at the van and could have ended up between a car and the wall,” added Mr Nixon, 54, who had been on his way to pick up his son and head to work.

Apart from damage to his company van, he also saw his grey Ford Mondeo wrecked in the accident.

“And I’ve just sold it in part-exchange and was due to do the deal on Saturday, so that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Also hastily dealing with insurance companies was care worker Bernadette Lee, whose Micra was the first car to be hit.

“It was just turned into a little ball of twisted metal,” said Mrs Lee, 53. “I was too sickened to go out and look at it closely.

“It was complete havoc out there – how the heck it can have happened I don’t know. Now I’ve got no car and won’t get what it’s worth from the insurance.”

West Yorkshire Police closed the road until 8.30am as recovery vehicles removed the most damaged cars.

A police spokesman said investigations into the accident were under way, including checks on the lorry and interviews with its 58-year-old driver.