A 64-YEAR-old man from North Cornwall died on Monday morning after his car was in collision with an HGV lorry on the A30 near Okehampton. The driver of the Renault Megane, believed to be from the Wadebridge area, was travelling on the eastbound carriageway when the accident occurred between Stowford and Sourton Cross just after 11am. He was pronounced dead at the scene and the female passenger was taken to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital but her injuries were not believed to be life threatening. The A30 was closed in both directions for many hours and the eastbound carriageway did not open again until 9pm after accident investigators had left the scene and the vehicles recovered. Motorists stuck in long tailbacks were diverted back to Stowford Cross but many large lorries and caravans were unable to turn around and had to wait until the road reopened. The lorry had been on the westbound carriageway. Following the collision, westbound traffic was diverted off the A30 at Sourton onto the old A30. Three fire crews, including firefighters from Okehampton, worked at the scene to release the occupants from the car using cutting equipment. The 37-year-old driver of the transport lorry, who was from the West Midlands, suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital as a precaution. Firefighters dealt with a spillage of glycerine from the lorry which was containing 16 drums of the food product. Okehampton fire station officer Ian Donovan said there was a heavy downpour at the time of the accident which might have contributed to it.
