A YOUNG man with mental problems was killed after he lay down on a busy A-road near Preston and was hit by a car, an inquest heard.

Craig Litster, 20, was staying at the Fox Street homeless shelter in Preston at the time of the accident.

Craig, who had suffered from mental problems, was struck by Whitestake man Edward Halstead, 57, in his Vauxhall Cavalier, on the evening of Monday, February 4.

He died as a result of extensive injuries.

His brother Brian, from Barrow-in-Furness, said Craig would travel the country from town to town.

He said: "My younger brother was a bit of a free spirit. He wandered the country doing as he pleased. He was his own person.

"It is uncertain what happened and obviously our mother is still upset.

"From the outset the police have told me it was an accident. It was just one of those things."

Mr Litster had not been in contact with his family for at least 18 months before his death and the last time he had spoken to a relative had been from Cornwall.

The inquest heard how he had been mistaken for a plastic bag by drivers as he lay on the A59 near Bretherton.

An accident investigator for Lancashire Constabulary described how Craig was lying in pools of darkness in the road, underneath two broken street lights, when he was hit.

Driver Mr Halstead attempted to miss Craig and collided with a car in the opposite lane, but tests revealed he had struck the deceased.

Mr Halstead was interviewed by police after the accident.

In a statement read out in court Mr Halstead said: "As I approached the roundabout I could see what looked like a bag in the road.

"I looked down again and realised it was a body. I swerved to miss it and as I swerved I hit a car coming the other way."

Coroner Howard McCann recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said: "The big mystery is what he was doing there in the first place.

"Other than that, clearly this was an accident."