A man was killed early today in an accident which saw him trapped under a caravan in Gomersal.

At 1.30am, emergency services were called to reports of a collision on Church Lane, and arrived to find the man trapped under a vehicle.

Fire crews from Cleckheaton and Batley worked to release the man, a pedestrian thought to be in his 20s, but he died at the scene.

Police believe the caravan was being towed at the time, and have yet to issue any appeal for witnesses.

One resident who saw the aftermath of the accident said he “couldn’t get his head round” how it happened.

Church Lane was closed from its junction with Muffit Lane for several hours after the accident, opening again at 5.15am.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service sent a rapid response vehicle, ambulance, doctor and hazardous area response unit to the scene, and said that although an adult male received treatment, he died at the scene.

Because the entire incident was dealt with by early morning, many residents of Church Lane yesterday had no idea there had been a fatal accident just yards from their homes, and were shocked when hearing of the tragic accident.

The only evidence of an incident were police paint markers at the scene of the crash, between the road’s junction with Craven Close and the junction with Oxford Road.

One resident of Church Lane, who did not wish to be identified, realised something was happening in the road after he and his wife were woken up by a loud noise in the middle of the night. He said: “We heard a loud bang at about half past one. We looked out of the window and all we could see was a caravan, a few cars and a couple of people around them.

“There were people on the floor looking under the caravan. Soon there were police, the fire brigade and ambulances. They cordoned the road off. Later on we found out that someone had been killed.

“It was a real shock to hear. We couldn’t get our heads round what had happened or how. We also couldn’t get why a caravan would be out at that time of night.”