15382/5DRIVER Ali Smith and her partner John Furness say they are lucky to be alive after they were pushed along in their car by a tanker during a horrifying collision.

Miss Smith, 34, and Mr Furness, 33, from Devizes, escaped serious injury and are appealing for witnesses as the driver of the tanker failed to stop.

Miss Smith's car was written off in the collision and she has been off work since it happened with whiplash injuries.

The couple's ordeal happened as Miss Smith was driving her blue Rover 200 car on the A350 dual carriageway near Kington Langley, Chippenham, towards junction 17 of the M4. The incident occurred at about 10.50am on Friday January 28.

Miss Smith had overtaken a tanker and was in the inside lane when the same tanker pulled out to overtake her car.

Miss Smith slowed down and she said the tanker also slowed and then it clipped the rear offside corner of her car.

This propelled Miss Smith's car in front of the tanker at a 45 degree angle.

Miss Smith was sitting inches away from the tanker's grille and she and Mr Furness were facing the central reservation as the tanker pushed their car about 100 yards up the road.

Mr Furness, an electrician, said: "It was horrific. I thought at first we had a flat tyre because the back end of the car moved a little.

"I was frightened to death when I saw this great big tanker pushing us sideways up the road. It was like being on a fairground ride being bumped around." Miss Smith, a support worker for adults with learning disabilities, said: "There was a crunch and mud was flicking up everywhere. The tanker was towering above us, the only thing I could see as we were being pushed along was the white grille bars on the front.

"Then my car started spinning and I thought we were going to go over but fortunately it came to rest half on and half off the verge in the central reservation."

Miss Smith said a motorist stopped and rushed to help them.

As she and Mr Furness got out of the car they were astounded to see the tanker driving away in the distance.

Miss Smith said: "The driver didn't even hit his brakes. I was fuming and I am still angry about it. We could have been left for dead.

"If we had been travelling in the afternoon my 12-year-old son Cory would have been in the back of the car."

Mr Furness said: "Every single panel, apart from the roof, was knackered. We are very lucky to be alive."

Mr Furness lost a week's wages when he took a week off due to injuries to his back caused by the collision.

Mr Furness said the tanker was green and the cab was white. He thinks it could have been a milk tanker and was about 30 tons in weight.

The couple did not have time to note the registration number.

Miss Smith's car was written off and she said her insurance company has agreed to pay off the remaining £2,300 she had to pay in hire purchase.

She will have to pay £100 excess and thinks she will be left with around £100 to buy another car unless she is successful with a claim to the Motor Insurers Bureau.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or saw the tanker is asked to call WPC Lee at Chippenham Police Station on (01249) 654455 or Miss Smith on 07717 876085.