A TERRIFIED trucker who lost control of a 38-ton articulated lorry when the tyre burst today told how he prepared to die at the wheel.

Dave Harbour, 50, cannot believe how he escaped unscathed from the accident that blocked the M6 in the Midlands for four hours.

And today he admitted: "I prepared to die. I didn't panic or anything, I stayed calm. I thought it was my turn to go. I really thought that was it."

Grandfather Mr Harbour, who lives with his wife, Josephine, in Cecilia Road, Blackburn, was on a run to Northampton with a cargo of waste paper when the nearside tyre of the cab burst, sending the vehicle careering across a lane of traffic and into the crash barrier on the hard shoulder, on Thursday. He said: "I tried to get it under control but the impact catapulted me back across three lanes of traffic into the central reservation. I was in the hands of the gods and my life really flashed in front of my eyes.

"When the tyre burst it sounded like a bomb had gone off and some police officers who were at nearby services heard it.

"Luckily, the traffic behind me also realised what was going on and slowed down."

The crash, which left the trailer upside down in the middle of the motorway, caused a 17-mile tailback of traffic, but only one other vehicle was involved and the driver was taken to hospital for whiplash.

The cab partly overturned with the trailer but was stopped by the central reservation and Mr Harbour walked away without a scratch.

He said: "The police couldn't believe it. Tyres blow out all the time, but when it is one on the front you have had it really.

"I don't know whether I managed to turn the wheel or whether it went that way on its own, but I was very lucky."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.