A LORRY driver killed a family of four in their car after he fell asleep at the wheel while approaching a traffic queue, a court heard yesterday.

Ian King, 61, is accused of "dropping off" before his articulated lorry ploughed into a line of vehicles on the A34 near Bicester.

Among the vehicles was a Peugeot 307 containing Malcolm Dowling, 46, his wife Janice, 42, and their sons Richard, 16, and George, 11, who were travelling home to Lichfield, Staffordshire, from a family holiday in France.

King from Groby, Leicestershire, is standing trial at Oxford Crown Court where he denies four counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The trial continues.