A LORRY driver has been banned from the roads after his truck's stabilising arm slid out and knocked down a cyclist.

Dennis Morgan, 56, of Grange Crescent, Gosport, was convicted by a jury of dangerous driving after admitting in the witness box he had failed to secure the arm - despite his reputation among colleagues as a "stickler" for safety.

Cyclist Andrew White was thrown over his handlebars and suffered bruising and cuts to his elbows, face and hands.

The accident, in March 2000, happened just two months before a similar incident which led to the death of a Stubbington schoolboy.

Daniel Beveridge, 13, died in May 2000 after he was hit by a passing lorry's unsecured hydraulic arm.

Driver Michael Marsh, of Hythe, was jailed for two years for causing death by dangerous driving. The Court of Appeal later cut his prison term to one year.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard that Morgan's failure to secure the stabilising arm had been "potentially lethal".

The accident happened on the A32 in Gosport as Morgan drove around the Fort Brockhurst roundabout.

As he did, the 17-tonne lorry's nearside stabilising arm slid two feet out from the side of the vehicle, striking Mr White's bicycle.

In the witness box Morgan said he had been distracted while readying the lorry and the lapse in concentration meant he did not properly slide the arm's locking bolt into position, nor attach a double-measure security clip.

He said: "I think I must have just had an oversight. I drove away 100 per cent sure that I had stowed everything safely."

The court heard that Morgan, who has a wife, two children and a young grandchild, has been a professional lorry driver for 35 years and taught younger drivers road safety.

A jury unanimously found Morgan guilty of dangerous driving. Judge Roger Jarvis disqualified him from driving for a year and fined him £750.