A LORRY driver accused of falling asleep at the wheel and driving into the back of an ambulance parked on the hard shoulder of the M4 motorway has admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

James Kelly was on trial after he denied causing the death of 28-year-old Mark Jenkins of Ferndale Road, Swindon, who was being treated in the back of the ambulance on August 18, 2002.

But yesterday, on the second day of the trial, Kelly, 54, of Pontypool, south Wales, changed his plea to guilty.

He was banned from driving and was given unconditional bail until he is sentenced on February 17.

A jury at Bristol Crown Court had been told that Mr Jenkins, called for paramedics when he felt unwell as he drove along the eastbound carriageway of the M4 between Bristol and Bath and pulled over. The paramedics could not find anything wrong with him and were arranging to take him to a nearby service station for a fuller examination when the crash happened.

Mr Jenkins was sitting in the back of the ambulance when the flat-bed lorry, driven by Kelly, ploughed into it. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ray Tully, prosecuting, said: "The overwhelming likelihood is that Mr Kelly, for whatever reason, fell asleep at the wheel.''

The two paramedics with the ambulance, Robert Jones and David Boucher, were seriously injured. They told the court that the vehicle's emergency blue lights were flashing at the time of the accident. A witness, driver Michelle Dodds, told the court the crash was the biggest explosion she had ever heard.

Kelly has been a heavy goods vehicle driver for 15 years and was driving from south Wales to Eastbourne on the day of the crash.

He had told police he had no recollection of the crash.

Mr Jenkins was employed as a graphic designer at Nationwide's Hawksworth office. He had been about to buy a house with his girlfriend of five years, Clare Moreton.

Miss Moreton, 30, is relieved that the driver has finally pleaded guilty.

She said: "It won't bring Mark back. But at least the case won't drag out any longer. It has dredged up so many horrible memories."

Miss Moreton, from Rodbourne, has felt numb for the past year before the case came to court. Now she hopes to remember the good times she shared with Mark.

She said: "This has taken so much time. I just want to have my happy memories back."

Victoria Tagg