Digger driver plunges 9m to death

A digger driver has died after his machine plunged more than 9m off a cliff and onto a major road in Bristol.

The JCB digger was being driven along Bridge Valley Road at 4.20pm yesterday when, for unknown reasons, the front bucket of the machine was lowered and the vehicle veered off the road.

It mounted a pavement and demolished a stone wall before falling onto the A4 Portway below.

The driver, believed to be a 53-year-old man from the Filton area, died at the scene.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident.