CHARD may have a record breaker with the UK’s youngest truck driver in the town.

Daniel Dearden, 18, of P J Dearden and Son in Chaffcombe Road has recently passed his HGV test.

Daniel comes from a family of truckers, with grandfather John and uncle Peter owning the business and father Stuart also driving for the firm.

The achievement follows national media coverage of 19-year-old Katie Gillard, also from Somerset, who was reported to be the youngest HGV driver in the country aged 19.

The age limit for HGV licences dropped from 21 to 18 last year, meaning Daniel could well hold the record.

Helen Dearden, Daniel’s mother, who also works in the office said: “It’s an absolutely great achievement. He passed all his theory tests on his 18th birthday and passed his driving test a week ago.”

Daniel previously set the record for the youngest tractor driver to drive from Land’s End to John o’Groats, achieving the feat when he was just 16 years old and raising thousands of pounds for charity.

Helen added: “Daniel has been a keen driver pretty much since he was born! He started off in tractors and has moved up.”

The haulage firm has been operating in the town for almost 17 years and specialise in delivering sand, gravel and other aggregates around the South West.

Daniel started driving for the firm on Wednesday. He is looking to step up to the next stage and take his articulated lorry test to become the youngest artic driver in the UK.