A DRIVER had to be cut free from his damaged truck following a nasty smash which left him trapped inside his vehicle.

Firefighters from Clacton, Colchester, Weeley, and the Urban Search and Rescue team were called to a crash in Colchester Road, Great Bentley, at 3.15pm on Monday.

Upon arrival the emergency services, including paramedics and police officers, found three vehicles had been involved in an accident.

It was then established a driver was trapped inside his light goods vehicle, which had come to a stop in a nearby ditch following the crash.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

As a result of the smash, police officers closed the busy road in both directions and heavy traffic quickly built up to the A120 and towards Weeley.

The firefighters managed to rescue the man from his truck by 4.40pm and the road was eventually reopened after the vehicles were recovered.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "If you have any information you can submit a report online at essex.police.uk or call 101 and quote incident 727 of 26 July.

"You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."