A shaken father fears his wife and daughter were just minutes away from being killed after scaffolding in High Wycombe town centre was blown down on top of their car.

Jason Sykes says his wife and nine-year-old daughter had just gone back to their car that was parked on Priory Road after enjoying shopping and a milkshake in the town when the scaffolding crashed down onto their vehicle.

Fortunately the pair were not injured but the whole family has been left shaken by the terrifying ordeal, which happened just after 2pm today.

Thames Valley Police, South Central Ambulance Service and Bucks Fire and Rescue descended on the scene to assist.

Although Mrs Sykes and their daughter were not injured, their car has been written off – and two other cars were also damaged, with Mr Sykes saying an Audi that was parked nearby practically had its bonnet “sliced in half”.

Describing what happened, Mr Sykes, from Flackwell Heath, said: “The scaffolding collapsed and fell onto the car. It wasn’t tied down properly and it had a tarpaulin on it, so when the wind got up, it took off like a kite.

“The car is completely written off. The scaffolding landed just above [my wife’s] head. If they had got back to the car just a couple of minutes later, we could be talking about a death right now.”

The scaffolding is reportedly there as part of construction of flats near The Massage Company premises.

And Mr Sykes praised The Massage Company staff and other shoppers who were in the area for rushing to help his wife and daughter.

He said: “We have to say a massive thank you to The Massage Company, they took us in and gave us food and drink, they were amazing and really supportive.”

He has urged that the incident is properly looked into by health and safety officials.

Putting a warning out to shoppers, Buckinghamshire Council said: “There has been an incident at Priory Road, High Wycombe, in which scaffolding has collapsed onto parked cars. Please avoid the area.

“Nobody has been injured and our crews will be on site shortly to make the road safe. Traffic management/diversions may be in place.”

We have contacted Thames Valley Police, Bucks Fire and Rescue, the building company involved and the Health and Safety Executive about the incident and will provide further updates about what happened.