THE council is to launch an investigation after one of its bin lorries was caught on film driving through a red light.

The footage, captured on a dashboard mounted camera, was taken in March and submitted a week later but it is has not been considered until now after council staff overlooked it.

The incident took place on Thamesdown Drive, at the junction with Eastbury Way in the early hours of a Friday morning.

It shows the car driver waiting in a crossing lane to turn right across the dual carriageway – the crossing lane light turns green and the car begins to move across the road only for a bright yellow bin lorry to run through a red light and pass straight in front of him.

Thankfully there was no collision, but had the car driver not crossed the junction at a slow speed, the end result could have been significantly worse.

The driver who recorded the offence taking place, but who has asked not to be named, said: “The incident happened back on theMarch 25 at 7.30am, we were just about to leave for a holiday so I had been over to fill the car up and grab a last few bits of shopping.

“Once this happened I saved the video but did not have time to send it to Swindon Borough Council until we returned which would have been April 4.

“I had a reply saying it would be passed to the relevant person and then that was it, nothing, not even a we're sorry and will be looking into it.

“I haven’t heard anything since.”

He went on to say that in covering around 40,000 miles a year as part of his job he considers Thamesdown Drive to be one of the worst roads for drivers recklessly ignoring traffic lights.

In his original email to the council, he wrote: “It has a very bad reputation and the collisions on this road are generally because of vehicles running red lights like this, but the weight of a bin lorry could have caused a very serious accident.”

At last week’s public meeting, residents were told that in a change of policy, the police would now be more willing to accept dash cam footage as evidence of motoring offences, providing it was accompanied by a formal statement and a willingness to support a prosecution in court.

A spokesman for Swindon Borough Council said: “The e-mail was forwarded to the correct team but it was missed, and we are sorry about that.

“Our refuse vehicles are fitted with technology that will allow us to identify who was at the wheel when this incident happened.

“The driver will hold a Driver’s Certificate of Professional Competence, but this video shows that on this occasion their driving fell below the standards that are acceptable, for whatever reason.

“Once the driver has been identified they will be given appropriate advice and if necessary further training. We’ll also remind all of our drivers of the standards we expect them to meet.”