A court has heard how a driver who has gone on trial accused of causing the death of his friend who fell from his pick-up truck heard a 'lump' as the victim fell.

Tyrone Clarke, 31, was giving Scott Baisley, 28, a lift from the Sun pub in the open loading area of his Nissan Navara, where there were no seatbelts or restraints, when he fell from the vehicle.

Norwich Crown Court has heard Mr Baisley, who was six foot five inches tall, struck his head on the ground after losing his footing and falling headfirst from the pick-up in King's Drive, Bradwell on June 22 2017.

Mr Baisley, from St Olaves, near Great Yarmouth, suffered a "catastrophic" brain injury and was rushed to the James Paget University Hospital, in Gorleston, and was later transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, for treatment.

He died four days later on June 26, 2017, without regaining consciousness.

On Tuesday afternoon (July 30) the court heard part of Clarke's police interview.

The jury of seven women and five men heard how the defendant had described how he had been driving back from the pub with his friends in the vehicle.

He told police they had "jumped in the back" before he headed off.

He said: "As we came into Kings Drive it's quite bendy. I wasn't speeding or anything, just driving along and all of a sudden heard a lump or something."

The court heard that Mr Baisley's friend said "he's gone, he's gone over".

Clarke said they then "started running" back to where Mr Baisley was and stayed with him while the emergency services attended.

He told police that Mr Baisley was "in the back" at the time of the incident.

He also said he had consumed about three Fosters before he set off from the pub and had also taken drugs between 36 and 40 hours before.

Earlier on Tuesday, PC Paul McKay, forensic collision investigator with Norfolk Police, was asked by Peter Gair, prosecuting, whether there was "anything to grab hold of on top of the cab". PC McKay said: "No, there was just the bodywork of the vehicle itself."

Clarke, of Howard's Way, Bradwell, has denied causing death by dangerous driving and an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving while over the legal drug-drive limit.

The trial continues.