Truck driver denies tipper charge

The incident resulted in the road being closed

A truck driver has denied causing the tipper of his lorry to crash into a motorway's overhead gantry resulting in major traffic delays.

Stuart Templeton, 25, appeared in court accused of careless driving on the M80 on 22 February.

The charges allege he failed to ensure the tipper section of the truck was in the lowered position.

Mr Templeton, of Denny near Falkirk, denies the charges. The trial was adjourned until January 2008.

The rear of the tipper truck became wedged under the gantry, which spans all three lanes of the northbound carriageway on the M80 at the Bankhead Interchange.

Mr Templeton and the male driver of a Vauxhall Corsa, which collided with the back of the tipper truck, both escaped injury.

Thousands of motorists were stuck in five-mile tailbacks following the incident on the Glasgow to Stirling road after police closed the route for safety reasons.