This is the dramatic moment a bungling crane operator dropped a pre-fabricated summer house on a family's home.

The machine was hoisting the one-tonne unit over neighbouring properties, but the driver miscalculated the weight.

Footage shows the 25 sqm pre-fab being lifted by the boom off the back of a truck. The operator had successfully manoeuvred it over electrical cables, keeping it suspended at 50ft (15m).

However, it lost balance at just 20ft (6m) from its intended spot and toppled forward, sending the wooden garden hut crashing onto the roof of a home in Khon Kaen, Thailand, on January 23.

Resident Nakharin Chinnabut, 29, said: ‘I was about to go out for work in the afternoon. I heard a sound similar to an explosion before wooden debris and dust scattered around.

‘I did my best to calm down and called for my dog. I was trapped until people pried open a window so I could climb out.'

The operators checked the house and freed Nakharin, whose home sustained severe damage, although no one was hurt.

Nakharin added: ‘I usually walk back and forth in the area where the house collapsed to check my charging mobile phone.

‘I did not stand there on that day and believe I was protected by the Buddha amulet I wore daily.'

Relative Nipha Hinla said: ‘I was doing laundry when I heard the noise. I went outside and saw the damage.

‘It might have been caused by operator error. The crane should have lowered the house because the load was too heavy after it was lifted past the cable.'

The family is now asking the company for compensation and was promised that insurance providers would inspect and assess the damage.