A 49-year-old lorry driver pleaded guilty to careless driving after his vehicle hit a family car, killing an 11-year-old girl.

Derek Tawn, of Worsley, near Manchester, admitted driving without due care and attention on the A34 near Drayton on May 26 last year.

Didcot magistrates heard yesterday that Azra Rawoot, 11, from Blackburn, Lancashire, was one of four children travelling in a Toyota Space Cruiser with her parents and grandmother.

Jan Davies, prosecuting, told the court, Tawn struck the car which had been parked short of a layby on the A34.

The family had been unable to reach the layby after one of the Toyota's tyres blew.

Miss Davies said: "Unfortunately, it appears the defendant saw the car's hazard lights, but mistakenly assumed that the vehicle was off the road."

Miss Davies said the defendant was travelling well within the speed limit at the time of the collision and had not exceeded his working hours.

Tawn told the court: "I have been driving HGVs for 29 years and I would like to think it was an unblemished driving career. On this particular occasion, I made an error of judgement. I honestly believed the car was in the layby. I am totally devastated by this."

Tawn was given a six-month conditional discharge with five penalty points.