Police have joined rural residents in urging lorry drivers to slow down on a dangerous road near Dereham after car owners were abruptly woken by the sound of their vehicles being smashed into and catapulted down the carriageway.

The warnings follow a crash in Hockering along a stretch of road which has been scheduled for urgent work under a £300,000 scheme to improve the link between the A47 and the A1067 Fakenham Road.

That work is due to start in six months' time but, until then, and in light of the most recent accident, police have warned HGV drivers and other road users to be more aware of the dangers.

The crash, which happened in the early hours of Friday morning, closed the road for three hours.

A Scania lorry hit a parked car in Heath Road at 5.30am, sending the vehicle metres along the road, and also hit a second vehicle which leapfrogged the neighbours' garden and landed in the drive of the property two houses down.

People living in the area said it was lucky no one was hurt and that it was an 'accident waiting to happen'.

Hayley Sait said she was shocked to wake up to a loud crash and to see her Chrysler Grand Voyager 'half way down the road'.

The 33-year-old, who lives in Heath Road with her husband Chris and their four children, aged between four and 14, said: 'I couldn't even see my car when I went out in the drive and next door's car was completely obliterated. Obviously we're gutted that we've lost our car but it could've been worse and it's lucky no people were involved.

'Lorries always come along here at ridiculous speeds; they come through the chicanes and floor it as they go past ours. There are about 14 or 16 children living along this row of houses and we just want drivers to slow down and be more aware that people do live here.'

Nigel Melton, who grew up in the house he now lives in with his wife Vanessa and their children, said his Ford Maverick had been flung into the driveway of his neighbour two doors down, hitting his next door neighbour's truck on its way.

'The lorries are getting worse and worse, they just thunder along here,' said the 42-year-old. 'When I was a boy we used to be able to play tennis out on the road but you couldn't do that now, it's too treacherous.

'This sort of accident has been waiting to happen for a long time. Luckily no one was hurt but at other times of the day, there could be children walking along the footpath or anything.'

Once Norfolk County Council's road improvements are finished, the upgraded road will run from Wood Lane, along to Walnut Tree Lane, Weston Green Road, Heath Road, Hockering Road, and on to Weston Hall Road in to Lenwade.

It is due to be complete by the end of March next year. Following the improvements, a weight restriction will be put in place to prevent HGVs travelling through Hockering.

Sgt Graeme Bentley, of Dereham Police, said: 'Motorists should be aware of the nature of this road, due to it being a rural one that is habitually used by HGVs.

'As such I would warn motorists to drive with extra care especially with darker mornings and evenings now upon us and to proceed with caution especially around bends, anticipating that there may be either oncoming HGVS or parked vehicles around the corner.'

Chief Inspector Chris Spinks, head of road policing for Norfolk and Suffolk, added: 'Drivers have to take responsibiltiy for their behaviour. The biggest cause of collisions when people are commuting is that they are not concentrating; they switch off and starting thinking about what they are going to do when they get to work or if they are on their way home, what they are going to do when they get there.

'There are so many tasks that we do that people would never dream of stop concentrating so why they do when they drive, no one knows.

'Motorists need to concentrate and be observant. Along Heath Road, there are pedestrians, parked cars, and with HGVs weighing some 38 tonnes, it's much more difficult to slow down than in a car.'