A court has heard that a man who died after falling from the back of his friend's open pick-up truck had nothing to hold onto to keep him inside the vehicle.

Tyrone Clarke, 31, was giving Scott Baisley, 28, a lift from the pub in the open loading area of his Nissan Navara, where there were no seatbelts or restraints, when he fell from the vehicle in what has been described at Norwich Crown Court as an accident waiting to happen.

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, the court has been told.

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.

Giving evidence on Tuesday morning, 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."

The officer told the court that while sometimes vehicles can be adapted to have seatbelts installed in the loading area of vehicles, this one had nothing.

He said: "In this case there was none of that available and no physical means of restraining a person in that area."

The jury heard that there were no mechanical faults with the vehicle that could have contributed to Mr Baisley's death and that speed also was not thought to have been an issue.

Richard Kelly, defending in cross examination, put it to PC McKay that stumbling or tripping over a shoe lace could have been a factor.

And while the officer said that was not inconceivable he insisted that not having the proper restraint, like a seatbelt, was more of a factor.

Clarke, of Howard's Way, Bradwell, has denied causing death by dangerous driving and an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving on June 22, 2017, while over the legal drug-drive limit.

The trial continues.