A Falmouth pensioner had a lucky escape this weekend after his car left the road, rolled down a bank and smashed into a post office.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash, on Boslowick Road, at 10.22am on Sunday.

The driver, named locally as Falmouth Watersports Centre founder Ted Pentecost, had to be prised free from his silver Ford Focus, which came to rest on its side in front of Boslowick shops.

A team of firefighters worked for more than an hour to free the stricken driver, who is believed to be in his eighties, before he could be left in the care of paramedics.

Despite the wreckage, which had to be dragged away down the footpath by a tow truck’s winch, Mr Pentecost received only minor injuries.

Graham Casey from Falmouth Gig Club, which Mr Pentecost also helped set up more than 25 years ago, said club member Greg Carroll had visited the injured man at home earlier this week.

“Ted came out of hospital today,” Mr Casey said on Monday evening, “and apart from a few bruises, he has not suffered too much as a result of the accident.”

Falmouth Packet:

Jon Bray, who works at McColl’s Newsagents next door to the Boslowick Post Office, was on shift when the crash took place.

“It was pretty scary,” he said.

“I just heard a big bang, so we all ran out the front door to see what it was.”

Jon grabbed a fire extinguisher from inside the shop because the car was leaking what could have been fuel or oil, while a group of passersby ran to the car to comfort Ted.

“His eyes were open, he looked very shocked but he responded to the questions he was asked,” Jon said.

The emergency services were on site within 15 minutes and after “about an hour and a half” they had cut Ted free “and got him out through the boot.”

“It was a bit of drama for a Sunday, if it was today there would have been a queue outside the post office, right where it landed,” Jon said.

“A lot of people have been saying they leave their buggies out there sometimes when they don’t want to bring them in and people leave their dogs out there and everything.”

But fortunately at the time of the accident “no one was there, thank God, because it would have been pretty fatal,” John added.

Packet reader Nikki Leigh had been walking her dogs past the shops just 15 minutes earlier.

“I’m glad it was raining so I wanted to be home quicker, otherwise that could have been a ‘wrong place, wrong time’ situation,” she said.

PICTURES: Robert Jenkin.