Driver `fine' after lorry terror

A POLICE report on the motorway incident in which a lorry driver guided his vehicle through traffic at 70mph after the accelerator jammed was submitted to the Department of Transport's Vehicle Inspectorate yesterday.

Five police cars and a helicopter cleared the route ahead after the driver, Michael Rayner, 26, alerted them to his predicament by mobile phone at about 11am on Sunday. Mr Rayner escaped unhurt after bringing the vehicle to halt by switching off the engine and steering into a crash barrier on the M1 just outside London.

The Scania P124 lorry, registered in January 1998, was contracted to waste management firm Polkacrest of Wrotham, Kent. A company spokesman said: "Everyone is relieved that what could have been a nasty incident ended safely. Mr Rayner is fine, but totally overwhelmed by all the interest in the story. He has gone away for a couple of days to recuperate."