A FARM worker has relived the night a shortcut across a dual carriageway in his tractor ended in the death of two men.

Andrew Breckon told a jury he thought his vehicle and trailer were safely within a cut-through on the A19 when the accident happened.

Teesside Crown Court had already heard that a Peugeot 206 containing four men clipped the trailer and crashed, killing driver Paul Humpherson and passenger Peter Gates.

The prosecution has alleged that the trailer was overhanging the fast lane of the northbound carriageway by at least six feet.

But a crash investigation expert for the defence yesterday claimed it was impossible to tell how far it was protruding.

Paul Riley told the court it could have been as little as six inches, but there was no way of being certain.

Mr Breckon, 41, of Romanby, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, denies two charges of causing death by dangerous driving.

He told the court yesterday that he believed he had driven properly on the night of the accident and had positioned the tractor and the trailer off the dual carriageway.

Mr Humpherson and Mr Gates died instantly, but two other people in the car - front seat passenger Frank Newton and Brian Gilholme - survived the crash at 8.50pm on September 25 last year.

The near side of their car went under the trailer and came out the other side before coming to rest more than a quarter of a mile along the road near Thimbleby, North Yorkshire.

Mr Breckon told police at the time that he felt a slight bang at the time of the crash, but continued back to Middle Farm, where he noticed damage and scratched paint.

Mr Riley said that because lights from other vehicles should have illuminated the tractor and trailer, Mr Humpherson should have been able to see it.

He estimated that the driver would have had two seconds to react and that his failure to do so contributed to the accident.

All four men in the Peugeot were working for a car-leasing company and were travelling back to the North-East from Wiltshire.

The case continues.