A GERMAN trucker went up Pompey and finished up 300 miles from his famous Channel port destination -- just outside Burnley!

And today he was still missing...somewhere in the UK.

When driver Bernd rumbled into the tiny village of Portsmouth -- between Cliviger and Todmorden -- he couldn't find the Commodore Express business where he was expecting to drop his load.

The disappointed German was last seen heading south, but only after sampling some traditional Lancashire hospitality -- a bacon butty.

A spokesman at Commodore Express said: "The driver hasn't turned up yet, but we are expecting him later."

Cliviger mobile cafe boss Nigel Baldwin had earlier tried to help when the 36ft German articulated truck pulled up next to his caravan on a lay-by.

Bungling Bernd had found the nearby village of Portsmouth but simply couldn't find his customer.

Nigel, 32, of Weir, had never heard of Commodore Express, nor had any his customers.

It was only when the driver produced his invoices that things became clear -- Bernd had driven to the wrong Portsmouth and should have been 300 miles away in Hampshire.

Munster-based Bernd had driven to Spain to pick up a consignment and arrived at Dover early yesterday .

Said Nigel, of the Traxsnax cafe : "He had phoned in for directions when he arrived in Dover, but somehow got it all wrong and came up to Lancashire."

"It gave us all a great laugh and Bernd took it in good heart."

"I gave him a bacon butty and coffee and sent him on his way with new directions."

A spokesman for Commodore today said: "You have got to see the funny side of things, because it is understandable that he has got lost. He probably came in from Dover, looked at his map and followed the directions to the first Portsmouth that he came across.

"We have drivers that come from all over the world so it isn't unusual that Bernd has got lost, even if it is 300 miles."