A MAN was killed when a car mounted the pavement and tried to undertake a recovery truck which was dealing with the aftermath of an accident, a court was told.

Michael Parker, 61, of Preston New Road, Mellor Brook, died almost instantly from massive head and chest injuries as a result of the dawn crash.

Driver Sajaad Munawar, 27, also narrowly avoided hitting a father and his three-year-old son in the collision in Preston New Road, Blackburn, Lancaster Crown Court was told.

Munawar, of Deepdale Road, Preston, denies causing Mr Parker's death by dangerous driving in November 2006.

Mark Lamberty, prose-cuting, said the recovery vehicle was dealing with an accident which had occurred 40 or 50 minutes beforehand. Mr Parker had left his home to help at the scene.

Recovery expert Michael Prescott was winching a damaged BMW onto his tow truck when Munawar's Vauxhall Astra approached, the court was told.

The court heard that instead of slowing down, Munawar's Astra mounted the footpath and tried to pass the recovery vehicle on the inside. The vehicle narrowly missed Mr Prescott, Stephen Cotton and his son Thomas, but it struck Mr Parker before colliding with a nearby tree, the court was told.

Mr Lamberty said Mr Prescott had arrived on the scene late as he had initially gone to the wrong location, in Longton.

By the time he arrived in Mellor Brook police accident investigators who were dealing with the earlier BMW crash had left the scene, he said.

When interviewed, Muna-war told police he had seen the lights of the recovery vehicle in, the jury heard.

He said that as he approached the tow truck he feared a collision with oncoming traffic so he decided to undertake the truck, the court was told.

Munawar said he did not remember what happened next, until the car became embedded in a tree, the court heard.

Mr Lamberty said the defendant's vehicle was travelling at around 50mph to 55mph at the time of the collision.

He said residents had frequently complained about the number of accidents on this particular stretch of road and wanted the speed limit reduced from 50mph to 40mph, the court was told.

Munawar arrived in the UK from Pakistan in 2006 as a student and was travelling to work as a part time receptionist in the Blackburn area when the collision occurred, the court heard.

(proceeding)