A tractor driver has been acquitted of dangerous driving after a wheel flew off the farm trailer he was pulling and killed an elderly woman.

Lewis Windust, 65, from New Zealand, had pleaded not guilty to the offence, which happened as he was driving a tractor and trailer to Southend Airport to cut the grass.

As he drove along the Ashingdon Road, Rochford, a huge wheel and hub assembly came loose from the trailer and rolled along the pavement.

The wheel struck Doris Smith, 84, knocking her unconscious. She was taken to Southend Hospital, where she died.

Judge Christopher Ball QC, sitting at Chelmsford Crown Court, directed the jury to find Mr Windust not guilty.

He said: "The detachment of the wheel caused Mrs Smith's death, but for him to be criminally liable requires evidence that it was obvious to a careful driver that it was dangerous to take the trailer out that day.

"The evidence does not establish that."

Howard Baker, of Marsh Road, Tillingham and his brother Martin Baker, of Lower Road, Hockey, owned the trailer and still stand trial for the manslaughter of Mrs Smith.

The trial continues.