STAFF at a Hampshire haulage firm are in shock today after one of their vehicles and its driver were involved in a motorway crash that left five people dead.

A low-loader from Elliott Sargeant of Rushington was transporting three Scimitar armoured vehicles from Marchwood Military Port near Southampton to an Army base in north Yorkshire when the accident happened on the M1 in Leicestershire yesterday.

The transporter is thought to have braked hard to avoid another vehicle which caused it to jack-knife. Its load was scattered across the northbound carriageway, causing a multiple pile-up.

Among those still in hospital last night was the unnamed driver from Elliott Sargeant.

Company directors John Smith and Andy Jones issued a statement expressing the distress of all at their firm.

"The company is devastated to learn that one our vehicles has been involved in the accident," they said.