Man called 999 from the roof of a moving lorry on the M56

Jul 14 2010 by Allison Dickinson, Ellesmere Port Pioneer

A DRUNKEN prank almost killed an Ellesmere Port teenager after he ended up on top of a lorry travelling down the M53.

As Anthony Woodward, of Belgrave Drive, clung to the roof of the HGV, he managed to make a frantic call to the emergency services.

He had earlier jumped from the window of a first floor flat, in the town, to land on top of the HGV as it waited at a set of traffic lights on May 25.

The lorry was later flagged down by police on the M56 – after having travelled on the M53 – and the 19-year-old was arrested and charged with a public order offence.

His mother knew nothing about his brush with death until he arrived home the next day after being held in a police cell overnight.

Annette Woodward, told The Pioneer: “He’s always been a bit of a clown, a bit of a lad, but I couldn’t believe this,” she said.

“I didn’t get a phone call telling me that he has been arrested as he is over 18. I was worried sick and didn’t know where he was.

“I was so upset. I told him that, if he had fallen off, that driver would have had to live with that for the rest of his life, and that he had put other people’s lives at risk.

“Drink is so cheap, and so easy to get, it is a problem for the kids and this sort of thing happens.

“You can’t stop a 20-year-old from going out, and if you throw them out it is like throwing them to the wolves. You do what you can to support them.”

Mrs Woodward thinks that his upcoming trial may make him consider his actions more carefully in future, adding: “Maybe he will change. I hope he does.”