AN 18-year-old skip lorry operator suffered an electric shock after his lorry touched an overhead power cable .

Police are urging operators of tall vehicles to be more observant after the incident in Mallard Avenue at 8.45am on Thursday.

The operator, from Melksham, was at the controls of a Hills refuse lorry when the lifting gear touched a live electricity wire, sending thousands of volts through the truck.

The teenager operating the controls received a slight shock, although did not at first think he had been affected.

He was taken to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon as a precaution.

The vehicle's driver had to wait inside the truck's cab while engineers from Southern Electric turned off the power.

Local power supplies were disrupted after the accident but were back to normal by late morning.

PC Kevin Herman, of Wiltshire police's traffic division based in Melksham, said: "It is clear from this incident that the driver and operator simply forgot to look upwards.

"They must have done this hundreds of times, but it is a new vehicle and they may not have been aware of its height."

"We urge owners of tall vehicles to be more aware of their surroundings and what is above them."