A tragic young boy's family wept as they heard their son "should have survived" crossing a dangerous Basildon road.

Bradley Hopwood was just 11 years old when he stepped out in front of a car and died in the town's Southmayne.

The youngster, of Dewsgreen, Vange, and his 14-year-old pal Jason Greenfield had avoided using the nearby underpass for fear of being attacked.

Jason told police they had looked both ways and could not see any cars coming along the road.

As they stepped out, Bradley walked into the path of a black Ford Escort RS Turbo.

Jason's foot was caught by the car but Bradley was killed on impact, having suffered multiple injuries.

Jason Greenfield had told police in his statement the two had attempted to cross the road through fear of using the underpass.

On investigation, the underpass was found to be well lit and officers in the case said they had never known anyone express fear of using it in the past.

The boy's family heard from a number of witnesses to the accident during the inquest into Bradley's death.

Brian Scully was driving along behind the Escort which hit Bradley.

He told the coroner's court: "I did not see the two boys until they were in the middle of the carriageway. They were heading for the central reservation and seemed to slow as they reached the other side.

"They should have made it across to the other side."

Further upset came as the court heard the car which hit Bradley, driven by Lisa Turner, had three defective tyres and defective brakes.

Coroner's officer PC Graham Crisp said the defects on her car would not have contributed to the accident - the tyres would have failed an MOT, but the brake problems were not serious enough.

A reconstruction was carried out by police after the accident. They discovered it would have been very difficult for the drivers to see the boys at the side of the road.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.

Killed instantly - Bradley Hopwood

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.