A BBC producer cannot remember nudging a parked van which then rolled down a road, mounted a pavement and killed two pedestrians.

Martin Rosenbaum is believed to have clipped delivery driver Larkland May's Mercedes-Benz sprinter van with his Saab car in a London street.

Prosecutors at Southwark Crown Court allege May had not applied the handbrake on his van while he delivered office stationery and the impact sent the vehicle rolling down Pudding Lane.

It reached speeds of up to 12 mph before crashing into and killing Dave Smith, of Alsager, and German national Claudia Kauert on April 24 last year.

But Mr Rosenbaum, who had been in the area filming a BBC documentary about poet TS Eliot, told May's manslaughter trial yesterday that he does not believe he struck the van.

He said: "When we had finished filming me and my colleague put the equipment in the boot of my car and went to the end of the street for a drink in a pub, where I had one bottle of beer.

"I returned to my car and made a three-point turn because there is only one way to get out of the road.

"As I performed the manoeuvre, I saw the white van pull in to its position.

"I went to move past the van, but it was quite a tight fit and I drove extremely slowly.

"I couldn't tell if there was a driver in the van because of the way it was positioned.

"As I moved past the van it began to move away in a way which suggested that it was moving to let me past, and I thought nothing of it."

Mr Rosenbaum was arrested on May 18, 2009, on suspicion of manslaughter after police watched CCTV footage taken in the area.

The court heard officers found scuff marks in identical positions on the Saab and May's van which suggested a collision had taken place.

But Mr Rosenbaum was released without charge and was in court yesterday as a prosecution witness.

Asked by Nigel Lithman QC, representing May, if he was aware of the two vehicles coming into contact, Mr Rosenbaum replied: "I was not."

He added: "The police turning up at my door came completely out of the blue. I had no idea there had been an incident in Pudding Lane that day."

Mr Rosenbaum told the court he had not spotted scuff marks on his car and could not remember if he had been on his mobile phone at the time of the incident.

Former Alsager School pupil Mr Smith, aged 24, had moved to London two weeks before his death to work for Lloyds TSB.

May denies manslaughter and causing death by careless driving.

The trial continues.