A SHOCKED motorist has told how he was left "shaking and terrified" after his seven-seater vehicle slid out of control for 100 yards and collided with four cars before smashing into a front garden.

The drama unfolded in Kensington Street, Girlington, just before midnight yesterday, when the driver lost control of the Vauxhall Vivaro on black ice on the steep street.

The driver, who did not wish to be named, said: "It was a really shocking. I couldn't sleep all night.

"It was black ice - there was a thin sheet of ice.

"I was driving at 10mph down that road but when I started braking I was thinking 'no, no, no'.

"As I braked, it would not stop and was gaining speed. I didn't know what to do. It was going faster and faster.

"It was terrifying. I was shaking afterwards.

"It's not the first time there's been an accident on that road. When that road is icy it's particularly bad."

The driver said he had hit four cars and had spoken to the owners of those vehicles, who were now contacting insurers to cover the cost of the damage.

He said a rumour circulating among residents that the vehicle had been unoccupied and had run away down the hill without a driver inside was "total rubbish."

"I was driving it at the time," he said.

Asam Khan, who lives just yards from where the vehicle came to rest, said: "I saw these lights and then heard the bang.

"It was wedged across a drive into a fence.

"We've heard it belonged to a driver who had called in to see his mum who lives somewhere at the top of the street. It's amazing no one was hurt."

This morning, the silver Vauxhall Vivaro was still in the garden as thick black ice continued to pose hazards to people and cars trying to negotiate the street and its side roads.

Another resident said: "It's scary. I didn't see what happened but I heard about it. It clipped lots of cars on the way down."

And another said: "I heard a noise late last night as it was happening but didn't see the damage until this morning. It's lucky it didn't happen when people were in the street."

A police spokesman said a call was received reporting what happened at 11.20pm and that the road was covered with ice. The caller also said the incident was sorted and there was no need for police involvement. Officers did not attend, he said.

Both the pavements and the road were coated in thick ice, some places where snow had hardened and in others where it was sheets of black ice.

Toller ward councillor Imran Hussain (Lab), who is also council deputy leader and has responsibility for Safer And Stronger Communities said he asks year after year for those steep streets in Girlington to be made a priority and to be gritted.

"I will be double-checking on that and finding out why this has not been done. I ask every year for them to be a priority because of its nature and it's a busy school run," he said.

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