  A new electron acceleration mechanism is identified that develops when a
relativistically intense laser irradiates the wedge of an over-dense plasma.
This induces a diffracted electromagnetic wave with a significant longitudinal
electric field that accelerates electrons from the plasma over long distances
to relativistic energies. Well collimated, highly-charged (nC) electron bunches
with energies up to 100's MeV are obtained using a laser beam with $I
\lambda_0^2 =3.5\times 10^{19}\,{\rm W \mu m^2/cm^2}$. Multi-dimensional
particle-in-cell simulations, supported by a simple analytical model, confirm
the efficiency and robustness of the proposed acceleration scheme.
