A Wiltshire Times reader has praised Will Guyatt’s technology column after it helped him communicate with a lorry driver who got stuck in Bradford on Avon on Monday.

Derrick Hunt downloaded the Google Translate app after reading about it in the weekly column on January 16 and said it was a vital tool in trying to talk to the Polish driver when his truck got stuck at the Newtown/ Belcombe Road junction.

Mr Hunt said: “The Wiltshire Times tells people what is going on in their area and the technology column tells people what is going on in the world and I had never heard about the app until I read it.

“We established some communication using the app and tried to tell him that he would have to reverse back up the road, but it was proving difficult to explain it further.”

The lorry blocked traffic to and from Avoncliff for more than two hours, forcing drivers to turn around and go along Winsley Road to get to Turleigh and then down to Avoncliff.

Mr Hunt eventually found someone who spoke Polish to help, explaining: “A driver tried to turn up the road so I explained to him it was closed because of the stuck lorry.

"I asked if he spoke Polish and he answered yes.

“It was a complete coincidence and it helped the driver manoeuvre himself back onto the main road.”