A MAN was fighting for his life last night after he was propelled through a hotel window in an accident involving a lorry.

He is believed to have lost a leg and suffered multiple serious injuries when a Royal Mail lorry smashed into the front of the building in Lyme Regis.

The man, named locally as Alexander Quan-Yat-Koon and more commonly known as Sandy, was airlifted to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

The lorry driver, from Bournemouth, was cut free by fire crews and airlifted to Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester, with serious injuries.

Father-of-one Mr Quan-Yat-Koon was walking past the Mariners Hotel in Silver Street, at around 9.50am yesterday when the accident happened.

The 7.5 tonne lorry collided with a trailer being pulled by a Mitsubishi L200 truck and careered into the hotel.

The lorry narrowly missed restaurant manager Les Glover, who was working in reception. He said: “I heard a screech of brakes and looked out of the window and saw it coming towards me.

“The man came through the window. He was on my lap and I was holding him up on my legs.”

Mr Glover did not require hospital treatment and was treated for cuts and bruises on the scene.

A health care assistant, who did not wish to be named, was travelling a few cars behind. She said: “The guy who was the worst off, I just held his hand and reassured him until the paramedics got there. He was too badly injured for me to do anything else so I just sat with him.”

Lyme Regis GP Dr Forbes Watson, of the nearby Kent House Medical Centre, was quickly on the scene and tended to the casualties until paramedics arrived.

Outside the hotel, bar manager Lynn Marnie was walking to work and witnessed the accident. She was later treated for shock at the scene.

Chef Steve Rainey was cooking breakfast when the accident happened and dialled 999.

Firemen pulled the lorry driver from the wreckage and stabilised the building to give paramedics access. Roads in the area were closed. The lorry was removed at 3.30pm.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “We received a call from a man on a mobile phone at 9.50am reporting a serious injury collision along Silver Street.

“A red DAF lorry collided with a Mitsubishi car and subsequently a pedestrian and the Mariners Hotel along Silver Street.”

Coastguards cleared a nearby field for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and the Devon Air Ambulance to land.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “We can confirm that at around 10.30am on Friday, October 15 one of our vehicles was involved in an accident at a hotel in Lyme Regis and our driver was taken to hospital.

“The full detail and circumstances are a matter for the police and we will cooperate fully with them in any future investigation.”

Hotel workers and bystanders described the terrifying moments after the horror crash. Head chef Richard Reddaway was due to start work just 10 minutes after the incident and was called to the scene by chef Steve Rainey.

Mr Reddaway said: “Steve heard something going on from the reception but he didn’t know what. Next thing he knew there was lots of screaming and shouting. He phoned me and said ‘you had better come to work’.

Joelle Chestney, a barmaid at the Nags Head pub in Silver Street, said: “Sandy is such a lovely man. He walks up and down the road and parks his car and he is always happy and smiley.”