The death of a beloved Colchester lorry driver on the A14 was avoidable an inquest has heard.

Craig Keeble, 48, was driving on the eastbound side of the carriageway at Rougham on the morning of August 25, 2020, when his lorry hit another HGV which was stationary on the road.

The inquest heard that on the morning of the incident rain had made conditions difficult at times.

A lorry travelling ahead of Mr Keeble suffered a tyre blowout while travelling down the road and had pulled to the side as it sought recovery.

Other cars had already spotted the lorry, which had its hazard warning lights on, and had pulled past without issue.

However, when Mr Keeble arrived in the area he was unable to avoid the lorry and went into the back of it, leaving his lorry across both lanes of the road.

Emergency services were called to the road but Mr Keeble was pronounced dead at the scene.

PC Dean Webb, a forensic collision investigator for Suffolk police, told the inquest that Mr Keeble had not been travelling over the speed limit at the time of his death and that there had been no issue with the road surface either.

However, PC Webb said that Mr Keeble had not been wearing his seat belt at the time of his death.

He said that he could not predict whether Mr Keeble would have survived if he had been wearing it but did described the overall incident as "avoidable".

Concerns were also raised in the inquest about Mr Keeble's vision after it was found that the font on his mobile was found to have been twice as large as was standard.

A post mortem into Mr Keeble's death found he had suffered severe head injuries in the collision.

Area coroner Jacqueline Devonish concluded that Mr Keeble's death had been the result of a road traffic collision.

Paying tribute at the time of his death Mr Keeble's family described him as having 'a heart of gold'.

"He worked as a haulage driver out of Felixstowe Docks and was loved by all those who knew him, a gentle giant with a big heart and very family orientated," they said.

"He was always full of life and would help anyone out with anything - he had a heart of gold.

β€œHe will be greatly missed.”