A MAN is lucky to be alive after a horrific collision with a lorry caused by a reckless driver on Thursday morning.

Stuart Sullivan, from Fordingbridge was driving to work near Bournemouth Airport when he was forced to swerve to avoid a car overtaking a lorry on the other side of the A338 at the notorious Bickton Bends.

The collision between the lorry and Mr Sullivan’s Land Rover Discovery ripped the lorry’s fuel tank off, with around 80 gallons of diesel spilling on to the road.

Mr Sullivan, who is in his forties said: “All I saw was bright lights. The first car that I saw on the road was the one that was coming round the corner on the wrong side of the road.

“I swerved on to the verge to avoid the car and the back end of the Land Rover spun round.

“I wouldn’t have been talking to you if I’d have been driving another car.

“As I swerved off on to the verge I started to haul it back in and the back end spun and I went straight into the side of the wagon.

“I can’t remember what happened then.

“I sat there and the air bag went off. I was facing the wrong way down the road. I patted down the air bag down and I was thinking “this is going to hurt”.

“The car behind me just managed to stop in time.”

Mr Sullivan added: “I was sitting there thinking the engine is still going.

“So I put my hazard lights on and just tried to think about what had just happened. There were people tapping at the window and the door wouldn’t open so I managed to climb out of the window.

“I fell in a heap on the ground. I’m a bit bruised and battered but got away with a couple of bruised ribs.

“The car did exactly what it was supposed to. In another vehicle the engine would have come back and I would have been trapped.

About the driver of the overtaking vehicle, Mr Sullivan said: “I would say they caused an accident and they know it.”

Police are appealing for witnesses and information about the driver who was reported to have carried out a series of dangerous overtaking manoeuvres.

The driver failed to stop.

A large section of the A338 was closed for most of Thursday until early evening.

PC Martin Vine of Hampshire Police said: “We have no description of the offending vehicle and I would like any witnesses to come forward.”

He praised the actions of the lorry and Land Rover drivers and added: “Fortunately no-one was hurt. This could have been so much worse. The driver of the Land Rover is incredibly lucky.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0845 0454545 or 101.

• THE A338 Salisbury Road was closed both ways from 7am as a result of emergency repairs to the road on Thursday.

Highways officers closed the road at the Ringwood roundabout which led to some problems for businesses on the Headlands Business Park.

Lorries were diverted along the A31 to Cadnam and A36 to Salisbury, with the road block at the roundabout initially unmanned.

But as a result of the issues this caused with delivery lorries and other goods vehicles, this was swiftly rectified.

Jeremy Berg, owner of Fabric Land at the industrial estate said: “The situation was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.

“Delivery drivers do not know the area and the diversion signs were not good enough.”