A father has described how he feared for his life when a car ploughed head-on into his bin lorry.

Richard McKenzie, 40, of Copperfield in Chigwell, was driving down Honey Lane in Waltham Abbey at around 11.30am yesterday on his way to empty a load from his lorry when his vehicle was hit by a car "travelling at around 50mph" in a 40mph zone.

The driver of the car, a man in his late 30s, was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a serious condition after obtaining head and chest injuries.

Mr McKenzie, who suffered cuts and bruises to his knees and a lower back injury, said his first reaction was to get out of the truck and see if everyone was OK, but as he opened the door he collapsed.

The father-of-one said: "I was so scared, if I had been driving in a car it would have been 100 per cent fatal, he was travelling at around 50mph.

"After it happened I opened the door to the lorry to climb out and see if the man was OK, but my legs gave way and I collapsed.

"A man on a motorbike picked me up and carried me over to the grass verge, it was horrible, I thought I had broken my legs.

"When I was driving home in my car later in the day I was so nervous, every time a car came towards me I would think it was happening again."

The truck suffered significant damage to the steering box, radiator and engine and the car was written off.

Mr McKenzie, who has been written off of work for two weeks, said the accident has left him questioning the job which he has done for the last nine years.

He added: "I drive that route every day with my little girl to take her to school, what if I had been in the car and she was with me?

"I am off of work at the moment but it makes me question returning, I am so nervous now, I think I need to look for something else.

"All I kept thinking was that I needed to move over as far as I could, but there was a curb and if I hit it then the lorry may flip over.

"This was my first major accident and it has really left me shaken, I was scared for my life."