VIDEO: Mission accomplished for Valentine’s Day Welney flood rescue

Truckers across the country – and probably further afield – had their eyes glued yesterday on only one place. The village of Welney which borders Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. It may have been Valentine’s Day but for one hapless lorry driver any love from his bosses was under wraps as the ‘A’ team from Manchetts of Burwell arrived at Welney to recover his cab and container stuck midway across the Wash Road.

Momentarily putting aside what had prompted the driver to believe the road was passable (warning signs, and barriers might have given a clue) his failed attempt to cross the flooded road ended with him being rescued in the early hours of Monday.

And it took fire crews from Outwell, Methwold, Littleport and King’s Lynn to guarantee his safe exit from his cab, leaving behind his stranded lorry for later recovery.

Joining Manchetts for the recovery today was Ipswich based RB Commercial Ltd – also a 24/7 recovery rescue operator.

Jack Parker, managing director of RB Commercial, said his company owns and operates one of the vehicles involved in the rescue.

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“It’s the second time we have worked with Manchetts on the Wash Road – it was enjoyable and a team effort,” he said.

Egged on by readers of the Welney Flood Watch Facebook group, the Manchetts team could have been forgiven for a sense of déjà vu.

After all they had been called in at the beginning of January to perform a similar recovery feat after a driver for Armour Transport had tried, unsuccessfully, to navigate the flooded road.

The road re-opened since but was closed again – and warning barriers returned – after recent rain had again made it impassable.

“Good morning, river levels at Welney up to 3.62m, depth of water on the road 1.27m/50 inches over 4 foot,” was the Welney Flood Watch message earlier today.

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“The road is impassable now and barriers are across both bridges.

“Manchetts have arrived to try and retrieve the stranded lorry; very professional team with some good gear hopefully they will be successful, but they are cautious as it is deep.”

The company prides itself on its “expansive fleet of vehicles which provide everything from roadside breakdowns to major multi-vehicle incidents” and again proved their competency.

It was a highly skilled job that took considerable ingenuity as they balanced the risks associated with such a delicate operation.

Manchetts begin ‘Operation Melon’ to rescue lorry on flooded Welney Wash Road

But nothing ventured, nothing gained and Manchetts were eventually able to pull the cab and trailer to safety.

Much to the relief of Nolan Transport who can now assess the damage to their equipment.

The Irish owned company – with offices across the UK, France, Spain, and the Netherlands – is one of the largest logistics supply chain operators in Europe with over 700 trucks and 2000 trailers.

The luck of the Irish may not have been bestowed on its driver but finding a company – with the equipment to tackle such a daunting mission – may not have been lucky but was certainly fortuitous.