Lucky to be alive

Firefighters spent an hour cutting one of the lorry drivers from the wreckage of his cab, after the impact trapped his legs under the dashboard.

He remained conscious and was taken to Bath's Royal United Hospital by ambulance for treatment to a broken leg.

Investigating police officer PC Tim Cook said the driver of the lorry was lucky to be alive and the accident, which happened at around 10am, could have been much more serious.

The stretch of road between the roundabout next to McDonald's and the roundabout leading to the Bristol Road was reopened at 1pm.

PC Cook said: "Not only was there a front impact on his cab, there was also a rear impact from one of the two one-tonne dumper trucks the lorry was transporting so he was squashed in between.

"It was just a chain of events that went horribly wrong and it could have been an awful lot worse."

Eyewitness John Govier, 34, from Bristol, said he watched the events unfold less than 150 yards in front of him as he waited by his broken down truck for the RAC to arrive at 9.30am on Tuesday.

He said he saw a grey Volvo estate travelling south stop and start reversing along the road.

Mr Govier said a lorry from NWF Fuels, carrying fuel oil and kerosene, braked to avoid the reversing car, but then a second lorry crashed into the tanker's rear.

The Bristol van driver immediately rang 999 on his mobile telephone before running towards the wreckage to make sure both drivers were all right.

"The second lorry driver was still moving around, but I could see his legs were trapped," he said.

"But the fire brigade were there in minutes."

One engine and a special rescue vehicle from Chippenham and another engine from Corsham attended the scene.

The 15 firefighters quickly established there was no risk of fuel leaking from the tanker and used hydraulic cutters to free the injured man.

PC Cook said a driver of a grey Volvo was arrested, but released later that day pending further police inquiries.