An articulated lorry ploughed into a builder’s yard in Dudley when it rolled 50 feet after the handbrake was deliberately released.

Neil Andrews, a director at CE Bunch in Netherton, said if the 26-ton truck had not crashed into offices on the site it would have ended up on a main road which could have been “catastrophic.’

Mr Andrews said police believe someone opened the cab door and released the handbrake causing it to roll and smash into the offices demolishing the corner of the building in Chapel Street.

Firefighter Adam Flint from Cradley Heath Fire station said: “The truck rolled back by about 50 feet and hit the building full pelt.

“It knocked out the corner of the building. Luckily the truck came to a standstill,” he added.