A TRACTOR driver died after being involved in a horror crash with an articulated heavy goods tanker near Dorchester.

The man, 56, was rushed to Dorset County Hospital with head injuries following the collision on the A35 Puddletown bypass.

Police said that the driver of the foreign-registered tanker left the scene and hitched a lift to Dorchester train station, where he was later arrested.

Both lanes of the eastbound carriageway were closed for several hours after the collision, causing long delays and heavy traffic.

Emergency services were called to the crash scene, between the Northbrook and Tolpuddle Ball junctions, at around midday yesterday.

The Belgium-registered tanker crashed into the back of the yellow and green John Deere agricultural tractor, which was towing an empty trailer.

Dorset Police said the tractor driver, from Bere Regis, suffered serious head injuries after being thrown from his cab.

The tractor itself, which was registered to a firm from the Dorchester area, was left lying on its side by the ‘major impact’.

A passing student paramedic came across the crash first and treated the man before ambulance crews rushed him to Dorset County Hospital.

He underwent treatment for severe head injuries in the Dorchester hospital’s intensive care unit yesterday evening but later died.

Dorset Police said the tanker driver, a 45-year-old man from Belgium, left the crash scene following the collision.

He is believed to have got a lift to Dorchester from a couple in the Puddletown area – thought to have been travelling in a silver car with a disabled badge.

The man was detained by officers after making his way to Dorchester train station. Dorset Police said he was being questioned over the incident. A Dorset Police spokesman said: “The police stress that the couple were unlikely to have been aware of the collision but may have vital evidence which will assist the investigation.”

Weymouth ambulance station lead paramedic Emma Keegan said: “A Dorchester-based student paramedic came across the accident and was joined at the scene by the motorbike paramedic, two ambulance crews and three ambulance officers.

“They took the man to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester with life-threatening head injuries.”

Ambulance officer Adrian South added: “The lorry hit the tractor with a lot of force and the driver was ejected on to the road surface and left unconscious with severe head injuries.

“We were on scene within minutes and took time to stabilise the man before rushing him to a trauma team at Dorset County Hospital, where he was taken into intensive care.”

Dorset Police closed part of the A35 Puddletown bypass eastbound for several hours yesterday while scene of crime investigators carried out a thorough investigation.

Fire crews were alerted to the collision to clean a diesel spillage on the road.

The couple who picked up the driver – and anyone else who witnessed the crash – are urged to contact 01305 222222.