A lorry driver has been found guilty of driving without due care and attention after an oil tanker crashed and left a man with serious injuries.

Nigel Simpson, 56, of Friars Lane in Braintree, drove his HGV up an embankment on the A120 near Dunmow in February last year.

As a result the vehicle and the trailer overturned causing 27 tons of oil to spill out onto the road.

The accident sent a Ford Transit careering into the tanker.

A Citroen then ploughed into the van, leaving a van passenger with a broken foot and a fractured vertebrae.

Simpson suffered minor neck injuries in the crash.

He was disqualified for six months after a trial at Southend Magistrates Court and ordered to pay costs of £930 and fined £720, with a £72 victim surcharge.

The defence served notice of an appeal and the disqualification was suspended, pending the appeal.

Hundreds of motorists became stuck in traffic in Braintree after the accident and diverted traffic caused congestion on the A131 in Great Leighs.