HEART-stopping dash-cam footage shows the moment a Stourbridge lorry driver ploughed into a vehicle and killed a horse in a horror motorway crash.

Nicholas Cole, aged 47, failed to notice the broken down horsebox on the M1 and smashed straight into it at around 6.30pm on July 17 last year.

Shocking video shows the HGV approaching from a distance before trying unsuccessfully to swerve away at the last second.

Stourbridge News: After crashing into a National Highways vehicle the lorry driver smashed into a horsebox narrowly missing the passengers standing next to it. After crashing into a National Highways vehicle the lorry driver smashed into a horsebox narrowly missing the passengers standing next to it. (Image: SWNS)

The lorry then collides with a National Highways vehicle and a horsebox before overturning on the carriageway between junctions 14 and 15 in Northamptonshire.

The driver and passengers were waiting on the bank and were unharmed - but their horse was killed.

Stourbridge News: The crash happened on the M1 northbound between junctions 14 and 15 on July 17 2023 The crash happened on the M1 northbound between junctions 14 and 15 on July 17 2023 (Image: SWNS)

Cole, of Harrison Road, Wordsley, said he had been listening to the radio before the collision and the next thing he knew, he saw the Highways vehicle and swerved to avoid it.

National Highways had closed one lane with a vehicle displaying flashing amber and red lights and a red X gantry sign - but Cole failed to move out of the way.

He was charged with dangerous driving which he pleaded guilty to at Northampton Magistrates Court in February.

On May 9, he was jailed for 42 weeks and banned from driving for 21 months at Northampton Crown Court.

PS Richard Hill, from Northamptonshire Police's Roads Policing Team, said: "As people will be able to see from the footage, this was a shocking collision that sadly resulted in a horse being killed.

Stourbridge News: Lorry driver Nicholas Cole crashed into a horsebox narrowly missing the passengers standing next to itLorry driver Nicholas Cole crashed into a horsebox narrowly missing the passengers standing next to it (Image: SWNS)

"It's a stark example of how important it is to keep your focus on the road when you're driving and to ensure you read the gantry signs displayed on the motorway.

"Cole would have had plenty of time to see the red X and yet still caused this collision.

"I hope this sentence is a lesson to him and to other road users.

"Driving a vehicle is a big responsibility and it is paramount that you are always aware of your surroundings."