‘Heroic’ lorry driver rescues family after crash

A lorry driver has spoken of his "massive relief" after he helped to rescue a family whose car was involved in a crash.

Ken Wheatley, from Crewe, Cheshire, was travelling southbound on the M1 near Bedford in the early hours of 29 March, when he saw a car speed past and crash into another.

The second vehicle was put into a spin before ending up on its side and Wheatley was among the drivers who used their wagons to block traffic before helping the occupants.

The 60-year-old spent about 40 minutes helping a man, a woman and their young daughter out of the car, before emergency services arrived.

Wheatley, a grandfather-of-four, told BBC Radio Stoke he was worried about what he would find when first approaching the vehicle on the motorway.

"I didn't know if they were going to be OK," he said. "That was the scary point because there's nothing worse than if you get there and someone had been really injured or worse."