TWO people were lucky to escape with just minor injuries after a piece of timber which fell from a moving vehicle speared their car windscreen, narrowly missing the driver.

The flying debris came from the roof of a portable hut, which blew off and shattered as the flatbed truck carried it crossed the busy A19 flyover at Portrack, Stockton, yesterday.

The truck, driven by a man from York, was travelling north over the Tees Viaduct when the hut roof blew off and smashed into the path of oncoming traffic in the southbound lanes, damaging several cars.

Two people were taken to Middlesbrough General Hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries, and the bridge was closed to traffic for an hour to allow the road to be cleared of damaged cars and debris.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said last night: "It was just luck that motorists and their passengers escaped serious injury."

Police investigating the incident were last night interviewing the lorry driver.