A MOTORIST died instantly when his car collided with a lorry trying to perform a u-turn on a motorway, crossing three lanes.

Gerard Warburton from Horwich, died instantly in the collision on the M74 near Kirkpatrick Fleming in Dumfriesshire last November.

He had been driving to Inverness in the north of Scotland and was near Gretna on the northbound M74 at 6.50pm on November 21 when the crash happened. The 41-year-old ploughed into the lorry.

Firefighters had to cut his body from the wreckage and the carriageway was closed for seven hours.

Dumfries Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday that lorry driver James Brown, 59, from Glasgow, had no idea he was on a motorway.

His actions were described as "inexplicable".

Mr Brown, who died from natural causes a month after the accident, told police he thought he was driving on a piece of waste ground.

An ambulance technician said Mr Brown told her he thought he was still at a service station he had visited earlier.

A breathalyser test on Mr Brown was negative.

Procurator fiscal John Service said his actions were "inexplicable and beyond comprehension".

Sheriff Kenneth Barr, who was presiding over the fatal accident inquiry returned a formal verdict.

Following his death, his mother, Kathleen, of Beverley Road, Bolton, paid tribute to Wanderers fan Mr Warburton. She said: "He was such a clean-living lad and he loved to spend time together with his family,"

Mr Warburton regularly went to the Reebok Stadium with his ten-year-old son, Declan.

He had been with his partner, Moria Bateson, for 18 years and worked as a courier for 10 months before being made redundant from Chortex, in Chorley New Road, Horwich, following 24 years' service.