17/01/2011 - Gritter driver in road accident
A gritter driver suffered serious leg injuries when the vehicle he was driving skidded on black ice and fell 30ft (9m) down a bank.
The accident took place when Anthony Jury, from South Molton, was driving on a road covered in black ice on the A39 at Arlington Court in north Devon.
Mr Jury suffered broken bones in his right leg and foot, and was trapped for two hours before he was rescued and airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
He said: "I got round the corner, but as the camber changed it just slid right across the road. No chance at all.
"I felt it going over the bank and it all crushing in the side.
"I thought that was the end. Then I came to a stop."
A passing postman raised the alarm over the accident.
Mr Jury, who has worked as a gritting lorry driver for more than 10 years, has just come back home from hospital.
He hopes to return to work - mending roads for South West Highways - but is not sure if he can face driving a gritter again.
Copyright © Press Association 2011
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