Jim Shaw. Picture: BBC South East Today

A MOTORCYCLIST has told how he threw himself off his bike to avoid a collision with a collapsed footbridge on the M20.

Jim Shaw, 73, broke five ribs as he slid under the bridge, which came down after being struck by a lorry carrying a digger.

The school bus driver from Thamesmead, South East London, was riding at 70mph when "chaos broke loose" and "bits were flying everywhere," he said.

Speaking from a hospital bed, he told the BBC: "The bridge was coming down, almost like in slow motion, because it's eating its way through the lorry.

"But then it tore away from the other side. As that came down, it was a matter of throw the bike on the floor and go for it.

"I've a few broken ribs, but they mend."

He added: “I moved to the outside lane. There was only one place to go. I threw the bike on the floor and went under.”

His Yamaha MT-07 was left trapped under the bridge, which came down on the London-bound carriageway between junctions three and four, near Maidstone, Kent, shortly after noon on Saturday.

He told The Sun newspaper: “I had a split second to think, it was more survival instinct. I made a snap decision to lay the bike down and slid right under the wreckage.

“My first thought when I came to rest was, ‘Oh well, there goes my bike’. It was a great bike.”

The M20 was closed in both directions as cranes cleared the debris and didn’t fully re-open until Sunday.