Two killed in separate lorry crashes... commuters faced huge delays

Two people have been killed in accidents with lorries on Devon roads.

In Exeter, an 80-year-old man from Broadclyst died following a collision with a lorry on the outskirts of Exeter.

Police and paramedics were called to Exhibition Way, Pinhoe at 2.30pm yesterday (27 January) after reports that a pedestrian was seriously injured.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene and his family have been informed.

The 53-year-old male lorry driver, from Street, Somerset, has been arrested on suspicion of death by careless driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision. He has been taken to Heavitree Road police station in Exeter.

Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances of the collision.

Meanwhile Police are also appealing for witnesses to an earlier collision on the M5 northbound near Cullompton in which a woman died.

Police and other emergency services were called to the scene of the fatal collision involving a car and a lorry just after 12.10pm on Tuesday 27 January.

The collision involving a heavy goods vehicle and a silver Vauxhall Omega happened about one mile before junction 28, Cullompton.

The car driver, a 57-year-old woman from Tiverton, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The male car passenger was not injured.

The lorry driver, a 64-year-old man from Cardiff, was arrested on suspicion of death by dangerous driving and taken to Heavitree Road police station. He was uninjured.

The M5 northbound between junction 29, Exeter, and junction 28, Cullompton, was closed immediately after the collision for officers from the Serious Collisions Investigation Unit to carrying out an examination of the scene.

Highways have assisted with the motorway closure.

Lane three was reopened at 3pm and lanes one and two reopened at 8pm.

Anyone who witnessed either collision is asked to call police on 101 quoting reference 265 of 27 January.