A LORRY driver whose vehicle caught fire on a motorway was lucky that a vanload of fire extinguishers was just behind.

Lee Knight, pictured, a fire extinguisher manager for Shaftes-bury company Wessex Fire and Security, spot-ted the flames coming out of a skip on the back of a truck on the M3 near Fleet.

Another driver flagged down the lorry and Mr Knight pulled in.

Mr Knight, 43, grabbed three extinguishers and successfully put out the blaze. He said the driver had been unaware of the fire until he was flagged down.

“When he pulled over and saw the flames he got into a bit of a panic and started trying to get the skip off the back of the lorry,” he said.

“I had about a dozen full extinguishers in the back of the van, but we only needed three to put out the fire.

“I don’t know how the fire started but it might have been that someone had thrown a cigarette into it and it gradually ignited the material in the skip. It just shows the benefit of having an extinguisher handy.

“I’ve been in the fire extinguisher industry since I left school at 16 and have seen first-hand how they can save property and lives.”