A lorry driver who was led off course by his sat nav got his HGV so tightly wedged in a narrow country lane he had to spend three nights sleeping in his cab before being rescued.

Residents living near the scene in Ivybridge, near Plymouth, Devon, were astonished when the LGV became wedged in the wooded lane last Friday evening.

The Czech driver, who was in his forties and called Yuri, was on his way to pick up a consignment of TVs from a depot at nearby Lee Moor and was led up the lane which runs between the A379 and the A38 by his sat nav.

Unfortunately Yuri who was driving a Kohlman and Hasek articulated lorry was unable to speak enough English to ask directions when he suspected he was being led into difficulty.

Mat Auburn, 19, whose family live within yards of the scene said that there had been similar sat nav blunders in the past with delivery lorries - but nothing on this scale.

Mat said: "What happened was he came up to one of the lanes leading off the A379.

"He said the sat nav told him to come up the lane and he actually stopped near a house to ask directions but the woman couldn't understand him so he carried on along the lane," he said.

"But you wouldn't drive any sort of lorry up there - it's got a 90 degree turn.

"The lorry was stopped in its tracks by an overhead pipe but could not back up.

"When he tried to reverse the wheels just skidded - he just couldn't get any grip," Mr Auburn said.

It was a lucky coincidence that Yuri's truck had got stuck right in front of the Auburn family house as mum Marina, is Croatian and could speak enough Croat and Slavic-based language to understand him.

Over the course of the two days Mrs Auburn and husband, Tim, a university lecturer, hosted lorry driver, Yuri, for breakfast, lunch and dinner and struck up a friendship, which they plan to continue.

However, Yuri, who has a wife and two children in the Czech Republic, slept in his cab, as it had a bed.

"The nearest village is about a mile away and there were no B&Bs close," Mat said.

"He slept in his cab. It had a bed in it so it made sense.

"We looked after him for the rest of the time. He came in to eat."

Mat said the Czech haulage company decided to wait until a weekday rather than attempting an expensive weekend rescue.

Eventually a tractor was hired to pull the lorry out of the lane, with the help of a tree surgeon, who made sure minimal damage was done to vegetation.

Mat added: "The lorry was a nuisance while it was there because locals do use it a lot.

"The diversion put a few miles on people's journeys."

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