A DRIVER was killed yesterday after a six hundredweight bale of hay rolled over a hedge and landed on top of his van.

The incident happened at around 12.30pm on the A381 between Harbertonford and Halwell.

The dead man, who has not been named by police, was driving a Transit-type van in the Kingsbridge direction. His van was also in collision with a smaller van coming the other way.

The driver of that van was uninjured but shocked.

The bale of hay is believed to have been in a steeply-sloping field beside the road when it somehow started rolling and fell 12 to 15 feet over a hedge and directly on to the cab of the oncoming van.

Yesterday police with health and safety officers were at the scene of the incident.

Inspector Andy Hamilton said: "We are liaising with the health and safety people and gathering evidence from the scene of the accident and the field."

He said the police had spoken to the farmer who owns the field and will be talking to him further.

He added: "The van has come into contact with a very large bale of hay.

"We are investigating how this came to happen."

It is believed that someone on a tractor was working in the field prior to the incident and Inspector Hamilton said police are looking into that as well.

The incident caused massive congestion in the area after effectively closing the main road between Kingsbridge and Totnes and Dartmouth.

Police diverted traffic around the lanes as hundreds of drivers attempted to find their way past the site.