The driver of a car which was left dangling over Swanpool in Falmouth has said he doesn’t believe he left it with the handbrake off, but that he can’t rule it out.

The motorist, from Swanpool, who gave his name only as Steve, said he thinks he put the handbrake on before going into the Swanpool Beach Cafe.

He said: “I wasn’t sure; I couldn’t lie and say I was 100 per cent sure but I think I put it on.”

Steve also claimed he reapplied the handbrake after the car had rolled. He added: “When I went out to go to the wall I put the handbrake on to make sure it didn’t go any further. When the fire brigade went to secure it the handbrake was off again.”

He added: “I don’t know how it rolled backwards it was on the flat. Even without the handbrake on, without something pushing it, it wouldn’t have moved back.”

The Packet previously reported that Pete Lochrie, the owner of Swanpool Beach Cafe, had been told by the motorist that he had left the handbrake off, as he was used to using a car with an automatic parking brake.

The vehicle rolled backwards down the slope, and travelled over the pavement before coming to rest on the parapet with its rear wheels overhanging Swanpool.