A passenger died after a lorry driver crashed into the back of a car on the M25 at the Darenth Interchange, a court heard.

Arthur Jackson, 78, was thrown out of the 4x4 and ended up in the middle lane of the motorway. He suffered multiple injuries and died 15 days later.

The Lithuanian trucker, Virginijus Sertvytis, denies causing death by careless driving.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Jackson, of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, was one of three passengers in a Mitsubishi Pajero driven by Michael Dougan.

They were all on their way to Dover for a shopping trip in Belgium in the early hours of February 11 last year.

Sertvytis, 46, who lives in Germany, was on his way to the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone.

Prosecutor Dickon Reid said there was CCTV footage showing the run-up to the crash and the aftermath, but did not show the impact.

Sertvytis, he said, pulled into the middle lane to overtake a slow moving lorry in front of him. He hit the rear of the 4x4, sending it into a violent spin.

The car hit the side of the trailer before spinning into the crash barrier. Others were also injured.

Mr Reid told the jury it was alleged Sertvytis made the manoeuvre to overtake when it was not safe to do so.

Sertvytis claimed he stayed in the slow lane and the car wanted to pull into his lane. He said as he was only about a kilometre from the Eurotunnel turning he had no intention of overtaking the lorry in front of him.

He added that when the collision happened, he was in the slow lane and the 4x4 was in front of him.

But another backseat passenger, Ruth Flynn, said the car was always in the middle lane. She said she saw the lorry indicating as if to pull out.

It happened so quickly, she said, that there was no time to tell the car driver to speed up.

She described the lorry undertaking, then pulling out and hitting them, sideswiping the car.

Mr Reid said her evidence was consistent with the CCTV footage.

The trial continues.