AN ELDERLY motorist driving a Toyota Prius who knocked down and killed his wife in a supermarket car park maintains it was his car that was at fault, not his driving.

William Hippsley, 74, a retired chartered surveyor of Owmby Road, Searby, drove his car to the Tesco supermarket car park at Brigg at about 5.30pm on September 19, 2008.

His 69-year-old wife Brenda was a passenger in the vehicle.

Simon Waley, prosecuting at Grimsby Crown Court, said: "He appears to have been struggling to manoeuvre into a parking space."

He explained: "His angle of approach was wrong and he appears to have had to reverse to have another go."

Mrs Hippsley got out of the vehicle to give her husband directions. She stood in front of the Toyota in order to do so. The space next door was occupied by a parked Vauxhall Astra. And, Mr Waley said: "As he came forward he hit the side of the Astra and he scraped the side of the Astra at a relatively slow speed.

"His wife started to bang on the bonnet of his car, telling him to stop. The scraping seems to have been pretty much along the whole length of the vehicle."

He continued: "The Prius turned away from the Astra, at that stage it was described as lunging forward, hitting Mrs Hippsley to the area of her leg."

Mrs Hippsley fell to the ground. "The car continued to accelerate across the car park it was, unfortunately, dragging Mrs Hippsley underneath it," Mr Waley said.

Jurors heard the vehicle had been examined by a police vehicle examiner and there were no faults found that could have caused the accident.

Hippsley was interviewed by police.

Mr Waley said: "At his interview, he indicated he had been gently nosing the car forward, when he said it suddenly leapt forward, it had done so of its own accord."

Hippsley denies a charge of causing death by careless driving.

The trial continues.