A SWANLEY man was run over by a truck on the M25, an inquest has heard.

Jamie Carter, of Waylands, was hit by a DAF truck at around 3.30am on May 15 after parking his car on the hard shoulder.

The 42-year-old lithographer died of multiple injuries, a post-mortem examination concluded, after being hit on the clockwise stretch of the motorway between Junction 3 at the Swanley Interchange and Junction 4, Orpington.

Friedrich Tophan, from Romford, was driving the UPS goods vehicle which hit Mr Carter.

He told the inquest: “It was dark but I could see a car on the hard shoulder. I didn’t see anything else.

“Suddenly I saw a white man with his hands outstretched in front of me.

“He went into my path. I think he must have been crouching down behind the vehicle because otherwise I would have seen him."

Witness Keith Hylands, from Sittingbourne, told the inquest: “I thought something had fallen out of the vehicle in front of me.

“It became obvious there was a body in the middle lane of the motorway.”

Coroner Roger Hatch recorded an open verdict at Gravesend Old Town Hall on December 4.

He said: “There is no explanation as to why he was in the driving lanes of the carriageway.

“I extend my sympathies to the family.”