A single mum was “almost killed” by a falling road sign in Feltham just yards from her front door.

The 44-year-old, who didn't want to give her name, was walking home having gone shopping at Tesco when the incident took place in Hounslow Road on Sunday morning (November 18) at 11.20am.

She heard “an almighty bang” and was shocked to turn and see a massive road sign had crashed to the pavement just behind her.

“I was right by the sign and didn’t hear any flapping but then I heard his almighty crash and all I could see was what looked like a black door so I thought ‘what the hell is that?’” she said.

“That would have killed me, it’s the size of a door, I’m just grateful I’m still alive – I live on my own with my son.

“Imagine if it were an elderly person or someone with a buggy. I’ve lived here for 15 years so I am quite aware of my surroundings but there was no warning at all.”

The road sign is lifted onto the back of a truck and taken away

It is not known what caused the sign to fall, although it could have been struck by a car mounting the pavement or a heavy goods vehicle too close to the kerb, the council says.

The mum, who is a teaching assistant at a special needs school, sent a text to her neighbour straight afterwards saying “have a look out your bedroom and see what nearly hit me”.

She then headed home to put her shopping bags down and walked back to see what it was – and found a road sign facing down.

After reporting it online to Hounslow Council, a worker arrived within an hour to collect the sign and the mum says the man struggled to lift the road sign into the truck.

She said: “It was massive, this guy really struggled to lift it.

“I have this belief in angels and the reality hit me that if I was two seconds later it would have hit me.”

A Hounslow Council spokesperson said: “A highways operative was sent to the location and recovered the sign which was reported as lying on the footway.

“The sign is maintained by Hounslow Highways and has been installed in compliance with traffic sign design regulations as per good practice.

“It is not known what caused the sign to fall although it is possible it was struck by a vehicle mounting the pavement or an HGV running too close to the kerb line.

“The sign will be reinstalled in the next 28 days at the same location although further from the kerb.”