The Army tightened checks on its vehicles after complaints from a driver in a death crash in Bosnia, a court heard yesterday.

An Army Board of Inquiry made recommendations to introduce new checks when the commander of an armoured personnel carrier was killed after it ploughed through a safety barrier on a mountain road and plunged 30 feet down a cliff.

Driver John Paul Young, 26, of the Green Howards, claimed that he reported excessive play in the left hand tiller, which was used to steer the vehicle.

He is suing the Ministry of Defence for negligence. The MoD is defending the action.

Warrant Officer Timothy Parker, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, told Middlesbrough County Court that excessive play on the steering levers would attract a Vehicle Off The Road code, because it was unfit and unsafe to drive.

He denied that the fault was reported to him, but said: "If it had been reported to me, I would have taken the vehicle off the road until the job had been corrected.

"We have instruction standards that we must follow all over the world, that is the standards that should be maintained."

Private Young, from Loftus, east Cleveland, suffered multiple injuries, including broken legs, and post-traumatic distress syndrome when the 28-year-old vehicle crashed along Route Pelican, between Baraci and Sipovo in Bosnia Herzagovena, on November 4, 1996.

His commander, Lance Corporal Steven Thirlwell, also 26, from Buster Agnes, Driffield, east Yorkshire, died when he was impaled on his own rifle.

Crash investigators found play in the left steering tiller and the brake drums were heavily scored and pitted.

Service records showed that the vehicle had done only 126 miles since it was fitted with a new engine and steering unit including brake drums, five and a half months before.

However, David Bristow, a consultant engineer, said in evidence: "I can't see how it could be described as serviceable when the drums are described in a report as severely scored and pitted."

Michael Bowerman, barrister for Pte Young, who is now serving in Northern Ireland, said: "The vehicle was badly maintained with maladjusted steering and brake drums which required renewal.

"An Army Board of Inquiry made certain recommendations to prevent a recurrence."

The case will continue on Monday