POLICE have made a nationwide appeal following a crash which claimed the life of a 59-year-old lorry driver.

Steven Hunt died at the weekend after his vehicle plunged down the embankment of the M18 near Doncaster. He came from Stoke on Trent.

Officers from the Road Policing Group of South Yorkshire Police say potential witnesses could have come from anywhere in the country. They are trying to establish how the Volvo HGV left the road in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Mr Hunt's vehicle left the carriageway about a mile south of the junction with the A1M and collided with the armco barrier and a primary route board. The tragedy happened just after 3am.

Just before the HGV veered off the motorway it had been travelling to the north east of the country.

A Ford Ranger 4x4, driven by a 49-year-old man from Tyne and Wear, was overtaking the Volvo HGV and is believed to have swerved into the Volvo, which then left the carriageway.

Police are trying to trace a third vehicle believed to have been close to the other two vehicles at the time of the incident.

Anyone who witnessed this incident is asked to contact the South Yorkshire Police witness helpline on 0114 220 2970.