A DAD-of-two who was part of a community effort to rescue the driver of a tanker which overturned on the East Lancs has described the dramatic events.

Kevin Briers from Haydock was going out for dinner with his wife and children when he saw the tanker overturned near the Waterside in Carr Mill on the East Lancs.

Rather than carry on to Toby Carvery, the 41-year-old stopped the car safely and joined around 15 other people in doing everything they could to help the driver.

The dad-of-two, who works at Pilkington Glass, said: “When we were driving past I just said to my wife I’ve got to do something here, I’ve got a wagon licence and when we did the training you get told about how serious things can be; I couldn’t just drive past.

“When I got to the scene I was telling people to stay away from the trailer as I didn’t know what the vehicle was carrying. I looked inside the cab and a man had climbed inside already to help the driver.

“The driver was unconscious and slumped trapped behind the steering wheel and we did what we could to get him out.

“The man who had climbed in passed me a fire extinguisher and I primed it ready and someone else kept an eye on the diesel that was pouring out.

“I went back to the cab and someone was trying to pull off the sunroof and she said she was a paramedic; she couldn’t manage it so I took over and pulled it off.

“Then six-eight of us worked together to pull the driver out of the roof.

“We listened to what the paramedic said and kept him as straight as possible and then he started coming to and was confused so we reassured him.

“We carried him 50 to 200 metres from the crash and by the time emergency services turned up he was conscious and responsive.

“I let the paramedic do her thing then and as well as her there was an off duty nurse and about 13 others including myself.

“I think in these circumstances it’s fight or flight and I just didn’t want to drive away because it could have ended very badly.

“It was a big community effort.”

After the incident Kevin re-joined his family and did eventually get his meal at Toby Carvery.

Police state that the driver of the tanker is believed to have suffered a medical episode.

Four ambulances, an air ambulance, at least one response vehicle, the ART team and an operational commander were sent to the incident by North West Ambulance Service.

The driver of the tanker plus a bystander who witnessed the incident were taken to hospital.