A COUPLE made homeless after a lorry smashed into the front of their pub were dealt another blow when the premises was broken into.

Police have confirmed that The Rising Sun in North Bradley was burgled in the early hours of Tuesday last week after an offender broke in through the toilet window at the rear of the property.

Money was stolen from the jukebox and fruit machines sometime between 2am and 11.30am.

Dawn Horscroft, the 30-year-old landlady of the pub, thought there had been a gas explosion when the HGV crashed into the front of the building in Woodmarsh Road at about 6am on Thursday, November 20.

Miss Horscroft, who lives above the pub with her partner Matthew Billings-Wakerley, 33, said she was finishing some painting upstairs at the end of a late shift when an articulated 38-tonne Daf lorry hit the pub.

Following the initial shock, Miss Horscroft said their attentions focused on the driver of the lorry, who was unconscious in his cab, and Mr Billings-Wakerley ran downstairs to assist him.

The driver was trapped in the vehicle and it was only after firefighters from Trowbridge Fire Station arrived that he was freed from the wreckage. He was then taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Miss Horscroft, who has run the pub since October last year, said: “We were getting ready for bed when we heard a massive bang, which sounded like a gas explosion. Matt jumped out of bed and said a lorry has smashed into the pub. It was rolling back into the road.

“It was completely surreal. When we ran downstairs there was a load of dust covering everything and we couldn’t see very well.

“It all happened so quickly. Matt went to see if the driver was OK, but he wasn’t able to get him out. I was running around shouting to see if anyone could help and then the emergency services arrived.”

Miss Horscroft, who said the pub is currently up for sale, described how traffic then started to build up.

Police closed Woodmarsh Road in both directions but it reopened at about 9am. The nearby North Bradley CE Primary School was forced to delay its opening time until 10am.

Miss Horscroft added: “It is not structurally safe to be in the pub at the moment and we are just waiting for builders and the insurance company to come and survey it, but no one is allowed in.

“It’s not really sunk in yet and I’ve not even thought about Christmas. Yesterday we were painting the toilets and today we have no income and nowhere to live.”

It is understood the couple are now staying with friends.