Lorry driver admits dangerous driving after knocking down bridge on the M20

A lorry driver has pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving after he ploughed into a motorway bridge, causing £1.5 million worth of damage.

The incident occurred after heavy machinery on the lorry, driven by Alan Austen, struck the M20 Footbridge on August 27 last year.

The huge impact of the collision caused the bridge to collapse onto the London-bound carriageway between junctions three and 4 at Ryarsh in Kent.

No one was killed in the incident, but 73-year-old Jim Shaw of Thamesmead, south-east London, was left with three broken ribs after he came off his motorbike to avoid the fallen bridge.

As he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court, Austen, 64, of Jedburgh Drive, Darlington, County Durham spoke only to confirm his name and enter a plea.

The court heard how the load on the back of his lorry was too high to fit under the bridge, with Judge Philip Statman claiming it was ‘remarkable’ no one had died.

In an impact statement read to the court, Mr Shaw said: ‘I have no doubt if the bridge had come down a second earlier I could be dead. It plays with your mind. Since the incident I have suffered physically and mentally. I am constantly in pain.’

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The court had previously heard how around £1.5 million of damage was caused to the bridge, which included £118,000 of damage to a Daf truck and trailer which was hit by the rubble, along with £35,107 of damage to the Hitachi wheeled excavator and yellow dumper being carried on the back of Austen’s lorry.

Prosecutor Peter Forbes also told the court how Austen was warned by colleagues about the height of the machinery he was carriying, but chose to ignore their advice and told them ‘it’s fine.’

Mr Forbes also says that Austen maintained he measured the height of the machinery at 16ft 2ins, but he has since accepted that this was not the case as the height of the bridge was 17ft.