A TRUCK driver who ploughed into traffic after falling asleep at the wheel had been working seven days on the trot to pay off debts, Oxford Crown Court heard.

John Pearce, 54, crashed his recovery truck into three vehicles on the southbound stretch of the M40 at junction nine, near Bicester, in January.

Clare Tucker, prosecuting, told the court Pearce was woken by his employers at 3.10am on January 11 to take a vehicle to Birmingham airport. On his way back other motorists saw Pearce’s vehicle swerving.

She said: “He recalls seeing the one-mile sign for junction nine then hitting traffic. He must have fallen asleep.”

Recorder Andrew McCooey told Pearce he was extremely lucky not to have killed someone. Pearce, of Waynflete Road, Headington, Oxford, was given a six-month curfew order and banned from driving for 18 months.