Trucking Hell

After storm Babet battered the UK with 70-miles-per-hour winds and heavy rains it left a wake of destruction, including a 22-tonne houseboat washed up on a muddy bank of the River Trent in Nottingham. Now Steve from Crouch and a boat rescue team have the task of trying to winch it back into the water. For this unique job, Steve's brought a unique piece of kit, a specially customised Mooroka. He sets up on the opposite bank, while the water crew attempt to take the 75-foot steel cable across the river to attach it to the boat. But mother nature has other ideas and the high storm waters mean the recovery could quickly head into choppy waters.

In the South it's a completely different story for Merrie from Lantern, she's not battling the force of nature but traffic and other drivers. A tractor unit and trailer with a trashed gearbox has broken down outside a busy site in Southampton, but diversions and road closures make it almost impossible to find, forcing Merrie to drive her 32-foot wrecker through narrow residential streets. After struggling with a tricky prop shaft and finally attaching the artic to her wrecker Merrie now has a navigational nightmare on her hands, driving back on the same narrow roads, this time with more than double the length.

In Newcastle, at Alpha recovery the yard is bustling and so is the call centre, sending out ops to jobs across the North East. Recovery veteran Kev is in the hot seat driving on his way to shift a refrigerated lorry that's broken down on the remote A69. But on arrival it's not the produce or load that leaves him turning his nose up – it's the stench of the remote layby often used by truckers when nature calls.