MEET Lady Kate, a queen of the road who is among the country's new driving force solving the huge trucker shortage in the UK.

Every day Kate Mcdougal gets behind the wheel of her 26 tonne rig and transports goods across the country for a living before returning home to look after her eight-year-old daughter Kezzia.

The mum-of-one was left heartbroken when her husband Darryl, a bodybuilder and doorman, died in her arms five years ago at their family home in Bournemouth aged 51 and she decided to change her life drastically.

The 46-year-old heard about the shortage of truckers and decided to take her licence to join the eight per cent of women who are crucial to the industry.

“I absolutely love my job. I smile from start to finish. This is the best job ever," she said.

“You are up high and you see things in a truck that people in a car just don’t see. You can look out into the fields and see the deer first thing in the morning and the lambs jumping about.

“It’s a different world, it really is.”

Since passing her HGV licence last March, she has set up her own company Lady Kate Haulage and works for agency More Driving and she has experience in everything from driving bin lorries, to delivering live rainbow trout to Essex.

Kate, who has a full motorbike licence and is also a qualified welder, said: “Long are the days of the insults 'typical woman drivers.' Us girls can do the job just as well as blokes."

For single mum Kate, the hours fit around taking care of Kezzia.

She met husband Darryl when they were both door staff and she was out of work for 10 years when she became his carer.

"It was a total accident. He literally died in my arms. He was waiting for a heart transplant because he found out he had heart disease later in life and he had a pump fitted. He got up in the night to take our little girl to the toilet in the night and he dropped the control pack. He died in minutes.

"I never thought I wouldn't be growing old together with my husband. You just don't know what's around the corner.

"You have to pull yourself together and just get on with it. You haven't got a choice."

Her loss made her realise the importance of providing a future for her daughter and making the most of life.

She got help from the Job Centre and hasn’t looked back since – losing two stone with the support of South Coast Power House gym and even setting up her own online Facebook group Lady Kate World of Trucks getting support from a community of 1.6k members.

“Everyone has been so lovely. The guys can give you quite a lot of stick but it is all good fun. You can’t get intimidated by the truck, it’s just a big car really.

“I am respectful of it. It’s a big bit of kit you’ve got there and the arctics are even bigger. I’ll always pat my lorry and say thank you very much.

“At the end of the day I want to get there safe, I want to get my load safe and I want to get home to my daughter safely.”

But for Kate, despite working in an industry dominated by men, it's important she stays in touch with her feminine side.

She dreams of getting a further licence to drive an articulated lorry and dreams of 'a fleet of big pink trucks' with Lady Kate written on the side.

Kate, from West Howe, said: "Two years ago I didn't do a lot. I was two stone heavier, I smoked 40 fags a day now I have a spring in my step. What I'm going for is a Jodie Marsh look and I feel good.

“I have a good sing behind the wheel! People wave and they flash their lights, it’s great fun!

“Of course there are some downsides,” she laughs.

“The toilet situation can sometimes be a bit of a problem.

“There are a lot more females out there now and why not? Why shouldn’t girls drive trucks?

“We want to take over the world, us girlies. To have something so my daughter can be proud of me and think 'if mum can do it after everything, so can I' then it makes it all worthwhile."