Firefighters tell of M27 bin lorry crash rescue

Motorists were stuck in queues of traffic for more than an hour, following the crash at 10.55am.

Around 20 metres of the central reservation on the M27 near Junction 12 for Portsmouth needed to be repaired by Highways England yesterday.

An investigation has been launched by Gosport Borough Council and its contractor Urbaser Ltd after the crash affected collections in Lee-on-the-Solent.

Firefighters cut two people out. Both were taken to QA Hospital.

A South Central Ambulance Service spokesman said neither suffered life-threatening injuries. One had chest injuries and the other had a leg injury.

Watch manager Jim Stone, from Fareham white watch, said: ‘The driver was trapped by one of his legs, it wasn’t crushed but it was trapped in the wreckage. He was flat across the bottom.

‘The other man was upside down over the back of him. They were in quite a confined space.’

Crews from Cosham, Southsea and Redbridge stations also attended.

The M27 eastbound was shut between the junctions for hours, before lane one and the hard shoulder were opened when the truck was recovered at 3pm.

Engineers were resurfacing the middle and outside lanes into the evening.

The ambulance spokesman said: ‘It’s a rubbish lorry that overturned, possibly due to wind. None are in a life-threatening condition.’

He said the injured men were taken to QA in Cosham.

Councillor Graham Burgess, deputy leader at Gosport council, said: ‘Collections in the Lee-on-Solent area are affected by this incident. We want to minimise delays, so our teams will work as late as possible to make collections.

‘If your bins have not been collected, leave them out and they will be collected as soon as possible.’

A Hampshire police spokesman thanked drivers for their patience.

Driver Kym Ritchie, 36, was on her way home to Southsea from Eastleigh when she saw the crash aftermath.

‘It looked quite bad – I got quite upset,’ receptionist Kym said.

‘The lorry was right over and all black underneath.’