The construction industry was praised last night for coming out and pulling together after an excavation vehicle overturned in Smith's.

The track machine fell off an Accurate Excavating trailer at the junction of Verdmont Road and Middle Road just before 8 p.m. when owner of the business, Timothy Boyles was trying to negotiate a tight bend.

But within minutes, no less than six different construction companies had turned out, along with the Police, to assist him in righting the vehicle and cleaning up the debris.

Mr. Boyles' wife Pauline was among the crowd of onlookers who was on hand to give support throughout the two-hour operation.

"I'm totally overwhelmed by everyone's support," said Mrs. Boyles. "All of the construction companies are here to help us get the machine back up."

My husband made one phone call for assistance, and the word went around in seconds and the entire posse has come out. It's wonderful to see everyone pulling together."

Mrs. Boyles said her husband was driving the trailer to take the excavating machine from one job to another, when he was trying to manoeuvre around a small access road leading from Verdmont Road to Middle Road.

But she said he had to swerve slightly to avoid a car that suddenly drove into the lane, causing the excavating machine sitting on the trailer to tilt and eventually topple over.

A crane was brought to the location to pull the track machine back over, and a pile of sand was poured onto the road beneath it to cushion its fall as it fell back into the right position. When the machine was finally righted, there was applause from people standing around. And after just a couple of minutes, its engine started - first time - and Mrs. Boyles said it looked as though no damage had been done at all.

She added: "I'm just glad nobody was hurt. It was a fluke accident, but it looks as though everything will be fine. My husband has been doing this for 20 years and this is the first time something like this has happened, but with everyone's help we were able to deal with it swiftly."

The companies that went to help were Island Construction, Rodrigues Trucking and Excavating, Peter Bromby Trucking, Joe Vieira, Pimental's Crane Service, and Lumber Crane Service.