EAST Lancashire haulier Chris Matthew today spoke of his terror as a machete wielding Frenchman came close to stabbing him in the lorry drivers' blockade.

Accrington man Chris said he was "frightened to death" when a gang of Frenchmen ran towards his cab as he attempted to dodge one of the 250 blockades and drive down a deserted side street.

His attempt was thwarted as the gang threw wooden boards embedded with nails in the path of his lorry to puncture the tyres. A Frenchman yanked open his cab door and held a machete close to Chris's leg.

Chris speaking from Lebourne, near Bordeaux, as talks between the striking truckers and the government broke down said: "I was trying to get round a roundabout the wrong way and go down an empty street. When I was threatened with the knife I was terrified. It was one of those big knives that are banned in Britain. "He put it to my leg and I just stopped. It was a frightening experience."

The Frenchmen also damaged part of his lorry in the fracas and Chris is now marooned in a market square with hundreds of other lorry drivers, including six colleagues from Mellor-based Stuart International.

Chris, 30, of Bradford Street, said: "Everyone is very frustrated. We are right in the middle of the blockade. There are no facilities. Drivers are using the back streets as toilets. The Red Cross are coming round with food."

"There are lorries for as far as the eye can see. I don't know when we are going to get out. Some drivers have been here for days."

The French truckers vowed to maintain their blockades on main roads and at key industrial sites after trade union officials announced the breakdown of talks and said the government had ended its mediation efforts.

Union sources said the breakdown was over pay. Truckers have demanded a pay rise of up to 23 per cent but employers have offered only one per cent.

British police were warning of severe congestion at the ports, with almost 1,400 lorries stranded at Ramsgate, Dover and a parking area near Ashford, waiting for ferries.

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