A DRIVER has been fined after the trailer of his articulated lorry broke loose on a country road near Colchester.

The lorry had travelled from Purfleet in south Essex via the M25 and A12 before the incident occurred at Newbridge Hill, West Bergholt.

The vehicle was on its way to deliver its 16-ton load of empty plastic crisp bags to a business when the trailer broke away from the vehicle’s tractor unit at about 3.45pm on Thursday April 11.

Police officers were called and launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.

The trailer was removed by a specialist recovery firm and the tractor unit was taken to Boreham services site and clamped until a mechanical investigation was carried out by inspectors from VOSA, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.

The mechanical examination found that there were no faults with the lorry.

Investigating officer Pc Gary Winfield, said: “The examination showed that the driver had not secured the trailer correctly to the truck when he collected the load from Purfleet. He then drove on the M25 and A12 then on to a small local round where the trailer connection failed as he negotiated a bend.

“Fortunately the lorry was travelling at a very slow speed at the time of the separation but had it happened while he had been doing the maximum speed of 56mph there could have been serious or fatal consequences.”

The driver has been given fixed penalty fines of £60 for using a vehicle in a dangerous condition and £200 for failing to take sufficient breaks while driving between April 8 and 9.

He faces a further a £300 fine after being summoned to court for driving the vehicle with a total weight of 27 tons along a road with a 7.5 ton restriction.

He also faces the costs of recovering and repairing the trailer which also damaged the road surface when it broke free.