A pensioner died in bizarre circumstances when her car ploughed into a lorry parked up for the night on the hard shoulder of a motorway slip road, a court heard.

The details were revealed when Czech trucker Jaroslav Horvath appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday and denied causing death by dangerous driving.

Susan Mellor, 74, from Maidstone, was wearing pyjamas at the time of the 5am crash at junction seven on the M20 near Detling on December 6 last year.

Prosecutor Alexander Williams said police had mounted an operation to deal with unlawful parking of lorries on the hard shoulder.

Horvath was asleep in the cab of his Mercedes articulated lorry parked behind three other trucks when the victim’s Nissan Qashqai ended up underneath it.

Sara Haroon, defending, said Horvath, 40, had travelled across the Channel before parking up.

“He parked under a street light to make sure he was visible,” she said. “He had been asleep for three hours when his lorry was impacted by the victim’s vehicle.

“There was some impact from behind. There is some mystery as to how that occurred.”

Mr Williams said of Ms Mellor being in pyjamas: “I am told she had difficulty in sleeping and she would often drive.”

Horvath will stand trial on March 27 next year. Unconditional bail was continued.