THE owners of an overloaded lorry that dropped a skip filled with scrap metal on a roundabout were fined �1,250 today for using a vehicle with a dangerous load.

Some of the scrap that scattered across the road - including radiators, rolled steel joists, piping and railing - hit a car waiting at a junction, Fenland magistrates were told.

Glazewing Ltd of Station Road, West Dereham, owned the lorry involved in the accident on the A141 Wisbech Road in March on July 30.

The lorry’s driver, Peter Lambert, 28, of Upton Place, Littleport, also admitted using a vehicle when its load involved danger of injury, He was fined �250.

Prosecuting, Emma Duckett said the scrap filled skip had been carried on a three axle trailer, towed by a three axle goods vehicle.

“The weight, position or distribution of its load had been placed in the skip container in such a manner that the container’s centre of gravity was too high, causing instability,” she said.

“As the vehicle combination negotiated the roundabout from the Westry direction, intending to return in the same direction, the skip container born by the trailer tipped to its nearside and fell from the trailer on to the road, scattering its contents across the junction mouth of Whittlesey Road.

“The debris from the container struck a car waiting at the junction, causing damage to the car and slight injuries to the passenger.”

Mitigating for the company, solicitor Roger Glazebrook said the skip’s load had been compacted on one side, so it was heavier on that side.

“It looks like the trailer caught the roundabout, and that tipped it up,” he said. “They have discovered the lorry was overloaded; although it had been put on a weighbridge.”

He said Glazewing, which employs 23 drivers, had since put new safety training measures in place for staff.

“It could have been a lot more serious that it was,” added Mr Glazebrook. “A lot of things came together to go against them, and make that lorry tip over.”

Presiding magistrate Alan Jones said: “It must have been terrifying foor the car driver.”

Both Glazewing and Lambert were ordered to pay �70 costs and a �15 surcharge, the driver had three points put on his licence.