A LORRY driver dramatically lost control of his vehicle as he tried to take a shortcut down a notorious East Lancashire country lane.

Andy Gorley, 58, was making an early-morning trip down Robin House Lane, between Briercliffe and Trawden, when his huge articulated wagon became wedged between a ford a sharp bend.

Then, as the trailer tumbled over, thousands of onions were shed from the trailer onto the road, leaving the lane closed for more than four hours as it was made safe and the vehicle was removed.

The incident has led highways bosses to launch a probe after locals reported a lack of signs warning heavy goods drivers heading towards Colne and Trawden not to attempt to drive down the road.

And police have also said Mr Gorley escaped serious injury and should not have been allowed to head down the lane in his vehicle.

Keith Law, transport manager at McGregors of Doncaster, which employs Mr Gorley, said: “He was heading towards Trawden and on his map it looked like a shortcut.

“Unfortunately, there are no signs in that direction saying you cannot drive down there in a HGV.

“He was a bit shell-shocked so when he got back to Doncaster I sent him home.”

PC Mark Darlington, from the road policing unit in Colne, said: “People in the area have told us there are no signs coming from Burnley towards Nelson and Colne so the driver became a cropper.

“As soon as you drive down there you realise it’s a bit shallow. With the width of the road, you would have thought it would not be suitable for a heavy goods vehicle but once one it has gone down, it cannot go back.

“As he came down the hill the trailer started to skid and as he came over the ford the trailer came off on the nearside and rolled into the ford.

“The only reason why the tractor unit of the lorry did not go in there too was because the banking at the side stopped it. It could have been quite serious to be honest.”

Police were originally called out to the scene at around 6.45am yesterday and immediately closed the road while the 16 tonnes of onions, believed to have been destined for East Lancashire shops, were cleared and the lorry was towed to safety.

Andrew Wilkinson, 42, who lives in Robin House Lane, said: “We looked out of the window and we saw this lorry with its lights on and it was just far too small for that road.

“The driver said he had been following the signs for Colne and then he got stuck down this road.”

Police and highways officers from Lancashire County Council then called out experts from Ward’s, of Gannow Lane, Burnley, who moved the vehicle using a 90-tonne crane before driving it back to their depot.

Afterwards, Janice Hanson, Lancashire County Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “We are aware of the incident in Robin House Lane and we are assisting police with the clean-up operation.

“We will await the accident report from police and we will check that the appropriate signage is in place and visible.”