A lorry driver facing 20 charges over a crash on the M1 that left eight people dead has appeared in court.

Ryszard Masierak, 31, is accused of being over the alcohol limit when his truck was involved in the incident on the southbound carriageway near Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire early on Saturday.

Six men and two women in a Ford Transit minibus died after the collision with the driver's Scania lorry and a second lorry.

Three passengers, including a five-year-old girl, were left fighting for their lives, and a fourth suffered minor injuries in the crash between junctions 15 and 14.

Masierak appeared at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on Monday.

With short, cropped brown hair and stubble, and wearing a grey custody tracksuit, he listened to proceedings via a Polish interpreter as the charges were read out.

He faces eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving, four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and eight counts of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit.

The court heard that he is accused of having 55mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal driving limit is 35mg.

Masierak from Worcestershire, made no application for bail and did not indicate how he would plead to the charges. He was remanded in custody to appear next at Aylesbury Crown Court on September.