A lorry driver involved in a head-on crash in which a 29-year-old man died denied he had been distracted or in any hurry on the day of the fatal accident.

Luke Ware, a father-of two from Foulden, near Thetford, died less than half an hour after the collision with Grigore Anton's Scania truck on October 9, last year.

Anton, a self-employed lorry driver from Romania, was travelling from Birmingham to Belgium in his personally owned truck, before he had stopped off at Foulden to purchase tyres from an eBay seller.

He was then driving south towards Northwold in his left-hand drive truck when the accident happened and Peter Gair prosecuting the case claimed that Anton was driving on the wrong side of the road when the collision occurred with Mr Ware's Daihatsu 4X4, which happened at around 6.35pm.

Norwich Crown Court was told that Anton has never denied being the driver of the lorry but has denied causing the death by dangerous driving of Mr Ware following the crash on the Foulden Road.

Giving evidence in his defence, Anton who had the help of a Romanian interpreter, told the jury hearing his trial that he had been in no rush that day.

He said: 'I was not in a hurry. I was in no rush.'

He said he was not under pressure of time to reach the ferry to Belgium and that was why he had thought it was a good day for him to have arranged to go and view the tyres he was hoping to purchase for his lorry.

He told the court there was a not a certain time he had to be at the ferry as he was able to get which ever ferry was the next available one to Belgium.

He said he had stopped and had a chat with the person selling the tyres and had also gone to look at them and had also arranged to come back to purchase some more tyres.

He said : 'I was so happy I found the tyres. I wanted to come back that week and buy the others

He said that he had been pleased with finding the tyres and asked by his barrister Lynne Shirley if he had been distracted while behind the wheel after leaving the address he replied: 'No.'

Anton said that the road was very narrow and in a poor state at the sides and very bumpy.

The trial continues.