A driver who was talking on a mobile phone when he crashed his delivery van into a pensioner's vehicle has been warned he is facing jail.

Alan Milbanke, 32, admitted causing the death of grandfather Derek Davies after he lost control of his Mercedes Sprinter van and hit the 68-year-old's Vauxhall pick up.

Mr Davies' son Geoff, 44, said Milbanke, who was working as a delivery driver for a stationary firm, had robbed the closely knit family of a "gentle man".

Mr Davies, a retired groom, had been running a family errand when he died in the smash at Snodge Edge in Tynedale, Northumberland, on April 11 last year.

Milbanke, of Point Pleasant Terrace, Wallsend, North Tyneside, yesterday pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving while using a mobile phone.

Prosecutor John Evans told Newcastle Crown Court: "The defendant had been and was using a mobile phone at the time he lost control of the vehicle."

Mr Davies' son Geoff said: "My dad had four grandchildren and whereas myself and my brother have spent our whole lives with dad, the children will now miss out on that and that is a devastating thought which preys on my mind."

Judge Michael Cartlidge warned Milbanke he is facing jail when he comes back for sentence on August 6.

The judge said: "I'm afraid it is almost inevitable you will go to prison for causing death by dangerous driving."

Mr Davies' widow Jill, of Shotley Bridge, County Durham: "I hope what happened to our family and the consequences for the driver who was using a mobile phone will be a warning to other people and they may learn from it.

Milbanke was granted bail until August 6 when he will be sentenced. .