Driver in Wednesbury club lorry crash on fourth day in new job
A driver who died when his lorry ploughed into a social club had only been working for the delivery firm for three days, it has been revealed.
The dead man has been named by police as Henryk Jackowski.
Drinkers fled the Royal British Legion social club in Wednesbury when the lorry crashed into the building on Boxing Day.
Driver dies as lorry smashes into Wednesbury social club
Today it emerged the 55-year-old Polish driver was taken on by Cargo Carriers, based in Bagnall Street, Great Bridge, in the run-up to the festive season.
Mr Jackowski, who was delivering milk, was pronounced dead at the scene. The firm, which has 80 drivers, said he had driving experience and had received training.
A spokesman for the firm said: "We are going to see his family to offer our condolences. Our thoughts are with them."
The social club may reopen in time for New Year's Eve, officials have said.
Investigations were continuing today to assess the damage done to the building.
The cab of the lorry had crashed into the High Bullen venue's snooker room.
There were believed to be around 15 people inside at the time. They all fled the club and escaped injury.
The club had been due to hold a disco before the crash, which happened at around 8pm. It left around a third of the lorry embedded in the building.
Chairman of the Royal British Legion club Leigh Jones said he was now hoping he could re-open the venue in time for New Year's Eve – when a sell-out event is planned – as the main bar area and concert room were unaffected by the crash.
He estimated it would cost up to £80,000 to remedy the damage which had been caused to the snooker room and kitchen.
Mr Jones said: "At the moment we're just waiting for the engineer to come in to see if it's safe enough to reopen.
"We've got a sell-out event on New Year's Eve and the concert room and bar haven't been touched by the crash and the electric is still working.
"It's just the snooker room that's been largely damaged. It's like a bomb's gone off. I'd say you'd have to be talking up to £80,000 to repair – that's my estimation.
"We've had a new boiler put in recently and new windows and some of them have been damaged too. The new kitchen is just gone. We've had a lot of support from Wednesbury people though. We're just waiting to hear if it's safe to re-open."
Police, paramedics and firefighters were all called to the scene of the crash and remained there for around four hours. A cordon was set up as the HGV was removed.
