Lorry crash leads to huge delays on A14

MOTORISTS faced long delays in Suffolk when a lorry smashed into a safety barrier, ploughed through trees and careered down a 40-foot embankment onto a busy road.

The accident happened shortly after 7am yesterday as the vehicle came onto the A14 slip road leading to Felixstowe at the Copdock interchange, just outside Ipswich.

The Harwich Express Freight Services lorry left the road, flipped over and slid down an embankment onto the eastbound carriageway.

The road was closed for eight-and-a-half hours while emergency services recovered the vehicle and accident experts investigated the scene.

As a result hundreds of commuters were caught in early morning tailbacks on the Ipswich-bound A12 as far as Capel St Mary and streams of cars also queued along the A14.

Although the road was eventually reopened around 3.30pm traffic was still slow moving.

The 44-ton lorry, which had to be secured using ropes to tie it to the slip road crash barrier, was only prevented from plunging onto the busy carriageway because it was propped up by a number of trees.

Police initially closed one lane of the A14 in case the lorry fell further down the bank but they were later forced to close the entire eastbound route from the Sproughton junction while the vehicle was lifted onto its wheels by two huge cranes.

The driver of the lorry is thought to have suffered serious crush injuries but is in a stable condition at Ipswich Hospital.

Sergeant John Hawkes of the Police Road Traffic Unit at Martlesham, said it was initially difficult to get near to the injured driver.

Five fire crews from Ipswich and a specialist recovery team from Colchester and paramedics and ambulance staff also attended.

A spokesperson for Harwich Express Freight Services said: “We know the driver has a crush injury but we do not know how serious that is and are waiting for the hospital to keep us informed.

“We have personnel down at the scene of the accident who are liaising with police to help with the recovery and we will be launching our own investigation into the exact circumstances of the accident.”

Anyone who witnessed the accident should call Suffolk police on 01473 613500.

§ At around 3pm there were also mile-long queues on the Bury St Edmunds-bound carriageway of the A14, near the turn-off for the A140, because of a broken down bus.