A MAN has died and a lorry driver left seriously injured following a crash on a major Suffolk road today.The A140 at Creeting's Bottom near Creeting St Mary was closed for several hours today following the crash between a lorry and a van, causing chaos for rush hour traffic.

A MAN has died and a lorry driver left seriously injured following a crash on a major Suffolk road today.

The A140 at Creeting's Bottom near Creeting St Mary was closed for several hours today following the crash between a lorry and a van, causing chaos for rush hour traffic.

The crash happened at around 5.50am today close to the junction of the A1120.

It is believed the driver of the van was from Norfolk and the lorry driver was from a company based in Braiseworth, Suffolk.

Today's death brings the number of fatalities on Suffolk's roads this year to eight - with four of these in the space of two days.

On Wednesday Graham Whitfield, 50 of Top Road, Rattlesden died after driving the wrong way down the A14 at Elmswell.

The road was closed for several hours while the carnage was cleared causing huge delays in the county.

And on the same day on the A134 near Thetford, 63-year-old motorcyclist Neville Brind died in a crash which again brought the counties roads to a halt.

In today's accident Suffolk police were faced with having to remove power cables in a bid to lift the two vehicles from the road.

Police closed the road and diverted traffic at the Beacon Hill A14 junction up until the A1120 at Stonham Aspal.

Colin Curtis, acting sergeant at the scene, said: "To remove the van we need to get something above it to lift it up.

"Because there are power cables above it, we need to take them down first.

"It is as yet unknown exactly what happened, but we hope when we speak to witnesses we will be able to put the pieces together."

Fire crews also attended the scene but left at 6.53am.

The county's roads have been the scene of several major crashes in the last two weeks causing chaos for motorists.

Last Thursdayafternoon, two lorries and a car crashed, closely followed by another two lorries and a tractor. This forced the closure of the A14 for more than six hours, causing traffic chaos around the area and in Ipswich town centre, where the traffic was diverted.

The number of fatalities has prompted calls to upgrade parts of the A12 and A14 to motorway status, in a bid to cope with the ever-increasing volume of traffic.

Last year, 43 people lost their lives on the county's roads, the lowest tally in six years.

The latest succession of tragedies has propelled the issue of the region's limited road network into sharp focus.

Alongside the series of fatal accidents, a number of other more minor collisions have caused gridlock on a number of occasions.

This has prompted calls to upgrade parts of the A12 and A14 to motorway status, in a bid to cope with the ever-increasing volume of traffic.

The Evening Star is also campaigning to ban slow moving vehicles from the two routes, arguing their presence puts lives at risk.