A truck driver is believed to have deliberately swerved towards a house to avoid crashing into a busy intersection on the Great Ocean Road.

The semi-trailer slammed into a house on William Street, just off Mountjoy Parade in the coastal town of Lorne about 2pm on Monday.

The scene of the crash at Lorne. Credit:Courtesy of Nine News, via Twitter

The driver was trapped in the cabin of his mangled vehicle for more than three hours, while emergency crews worked frantically to free him.

"It appears he's had some mechanical failure in the semi-trailer coming down a fairly steep incline," Lorne Country Fire Authority operations manager Wayne Aylmer told 3AW radio station on Monday afternoon.