Steam engine bizarrely crashes through house and into living room

21 April 2023 , 21:16

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'Significant damage to the property' was caused (Image: PA)

Residents in an Essex house were left shocked when a steam engine crashed into their house.

The incident occurred Great Dunmow this afternoon, and police and the fire service attended the scene.

None of the people in the house at the time were believed to have been harmed in the bizarre incident.

Efforts to recover the vehicle are now underway.

Local reports by the Essex County Standard said witnesses saw the engine "having issues" with "steam and smoke coming out of the bottom".

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The scene in Star Lane, Dunmow, Essex, after a steam traction engine from Sussex on its way to the Saffron Walden Crank Up weekend steam show, crashed into a private dwelling (PA)

Jordan Bright was present at the scene and said there was "significant damage to the property", the BBC reported.

Mr Bright said the driver of the vehicle was "in a state of shock following the crash".

The street was partially closed as authorities attended to the incident.

Reports indicated the engine was on its way to the Saffron Walden Crank Up weekend steam show, a steam and vintage vehicle show that dated back to the 1970s.

A video of the aftermath showed the steam engine resting up against a property on the street, with one person unhelpfully joking: "You can't park there, sir".

On Facebook, one person commented: "Thank god no one was on the footpath at that time."

The writing on the steam engine said it was from the 'Claude Jessett Collection'.

Heritage Machines, a website dedicated to old machines, said: "After The Claude Jessett Trust, based at Hadlow Down in East Sussex, had completed the programme of erecting new buildings and workshops to house the vast collection of steam, railway and agricultural artefacts accumulated over many years by the late Claude Jessett and his wife Joyce, priority has been given to restoring the steam engines, some of which had been left stored in the older buildings for some time."

Benjamin Lynch