An elderly moped rider died after the back of his vehicle was struck by a bread delivery lorry, a court heard.

William Stevenson, 74, was driving in the nearside lane along the southbound carriageway of A228 Boyle Way in East Peckham when he was hit.

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard a witness later described the Warbutons lorry as having "demolished" the moped.

Another motorist at the wheel of a car transporter said there was a loud bang "like an explosion" and a large cloud of smoke and debris.

The low-powered motorcycle, with a top speed of just 30mph, was thrown into the air while Mr Stevenson went underneath the lorry.

He suffered multiple injuries and later died at the Royal London Hospital having been flown there by air ambulance.

James Eagles, 44, of Covert Mead, Handcross, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, denies causing the death of Mr Stevenson by dangerous driving.

He also denies an alternative, less serious, offence of causing death by careless driving.

The court heard the fatal accident occurred just before midday on May 29 last year.

A work colleague was with Eagles in the lorry cab but was asleep at the moment of impact.

Both vehicles were travelling in the same direction and in the nearside lane of the dual carriageway.

David Morgan was at the wheel of a car transporter behind the Warbutons lorry.

The moped, he said, was a long distance ahead but he realised he would have to overtake it at some point as his vehicle was travelling faster at 50mph.

Mr Morgan said he pulled into the right-hand lane of the carriageway and waited for the Warbutons lorry to do the same.

Mr Morgan told the court he had followed an "unwritten rule" among HGV drivers of leaving a sufficient gap for a lorry ahead to also pull out.

However, he said the lorry made no attempt to either overtake the moped, indicate that he wanted to do so or even brake.

Mr Morgan, who is also an HGV driving instructor, said he thought the Warbutons lorry was not being driven "properly".

"There was absolutely no reason why he didn't move out," he told the court. "He wasn't moving and I started to look at the truck. I thought something was wrong.

"I took my foot off the gas and his truck started to gently drift to the left. It was drifting where the moped was."

Mr Morgan said the moped's driving gave him no cause for concern. Its speed was constant and it was keeping to the right of the white line at the edge of the nearside lane.

He then described the moment of impact. "I heard a very loud bang and saw a cloud of dust up over the Warbutons lorry. The truck went very violently to the right and lurched very violently and lifted.

"The actual moped came around the left-hand side of the Warbutons truck at about waist height and the rider of the moped came out from under the tailgate of the truck."

Several motorists stopped to help Mr Stevenson and call emergency services. The court heard that Mr Morgan described Eagles as being "torn to pieces" at the scene.

"I heard a very loud bang and saw a cloud of dust up over the Warbutons lorry. The truck went very violently to the right and lurched very violently and lifted" - David Morgan

But he maintained that he had left him "plenty of room" to avoid the moped.

"He could have done a number of things to avoid it and there was no reason for him not to have done any of them," he explained.

Prosecutor Nina Ellin told the jury of eight women and four men that none of the witnesses to the accident described Mr Stevenson's driving as "anything other than good".

However, she explained it was the Crown's case that Eagles's driving fell "far below" the standard expected of a careful and competent motorist.

"Given the amount of time this lorry had to prepare to go around that moped, the driver has simply failed to take any appropriate action to avoid this vehicle in front of him," said Miss Ellin.

"When you are considering a lorry and a moped, such driving is quite clearly dangerous....It will be for you to decide whether it falls below or far below the driving expected of a careful and competent driver. The Crown say it falls far below."

The trial continues.