Family hears of port tragedy

RELATIVES of a lorry driver who died in a crash just outside the gates of Felixstowe port were today being told of his death.

Police hoped to release the man's name once all his next of kin have been traced and told about the accident.

It is believed the driver – who is understood to come from Cambridgeshire – suffered a heart attack at the wheel.

The man died when his articulated lorry went off the road and collided with the fence of a container storage yard at Dock Gate Two roundabout at the junction of Fagbury Road and Trinity Avenue.

His truck, a Volvo lorry towing a 40ft trailer with container, was the only vehicle involved in the crash just after 1.30pm yesterday. It is believed he had just left the port with a delivery and was heading for the A14.

Police officers, fire and ambulance crews were called to the accident, which left the lorry embedded in metal railings. It was several hours before the wreckage of the lorry could be taken away from the site.

A Suffolk police spokesman said the accident had not adversely affected traffic flow in the area or at the roundabout, used daily by thousands of HGVs.

He said the coroner had been informed and a post mortem examination would be held to determine the cause of death. An inquest would be held later.

The accident was the second fatal in the area in the past four months.

An 80-year-old Felixstowe man died at the junction between Trinity Avenue and Anzani Avenue, outside the BP filling station, in August after his car was in collision with a lorry.

Earlier this month Dr Peter Dean, Greater Suffolk coroner, urged the county council to take action at that blackspot junction. The council wants to close the gap in the central reservation to stop motorists taking a short cut back to the port or town and is also looking at alternative ideas to improve safety.