The owner of a tanker which killed a father-of-eight when it lost a wheel will not be prosecuted because of a mistake in police paperwork.

Robert Kerry, 54, was fatally injured by the wheel as he waited outside The White Swan Hotel, near Arundel, on March 5.

Last week an inquest was told the lorry had a catalogue of faults and should not have been on the road.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute the driver because officials decided there was not enough evidence to prove manslaughter.

Instead it agreed to prosecute owner Hydro-Cleansing Ltd, based in Croydon, for offences relating to the poor condition of the truck on the road.

But Sussex Police wrongly summonsed the firm’s managing director, Stephen Hoed, instead of the company itself.

The error was not spotted until more than six months later.

By that time too much time had passed since the incident for the police to prosecute the firm.