A couple who lost both their sons in road crashes spoke of their devastation last night as two drivers were cleared of causing death by dangerous driving.

The men were fined a total of £700 for the lesser offence of dangerous driving.

Heartbroken Georgina Dey, 58, broke down as verdicts of not guilty were returned by a jury in a case which had centred on the death of her son Barry, 29, who was killed on the A24 in West Sussex on May 26, 2000.

She sobbed: "This is not justice to me at all."

His death came just 11 months after she and her husband Dave lost their other son, Tim, on his 32nd birthday in a motorbike accident near Alton in Hampshire.

Scott Smith, 23, of Hill Rise Avenue, Sompting, and Neville Hepburn, 46, of Poole, Dorset, were acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving despite evidence they had been "racing" just before the fatal crash.

Smith was found guilty of dangerous driving. He was fined £300 and banned for one year.

Hepburn, who admitted his driving was dangerous, was fined £400 and disqualified for two years.

Mrs Dey, of Beach Road, Selsey, clutched a photograph of Barry, who had a young son, as she waited for the jury's verdicts after deliberating for just under nine hours at Chichester Crown Court.

Afterwards Mr Dey, 61, said: "We are extremely disappointed. I would like to ask the jury, every one of them, who the hell killed Barry?

"It's not justice in our eyes. This is the second son we have lost in similar circumstances."

The court heard Smith and Hepburn had been driving between 80mph and 90mph as they left the Washington roundabout on the A24 during the morning rush hour.

Smith's car went out of control at road works and somersaulted into Mr Dey's car travelling in the opposite direction on the dual carriageway.

Mr Dey, of Streetfield Road, Slinfold, near Horsham, was killed instantly.

His widow Caroline has since launched a campaign to have crash barriers installed on the road, which has one of the worst accident records in Sussex. She was not in court yesterday.

Smith, who was driving a Peugeot 405, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Saab driver Hepburn was charged with the same offence because police discovered he had been tail-gating Smith.

It was alleged he was equally responsible for the death crash because his driving made Smith go faster and he had not maintained a safe distance behind the Peugeot.

During the trial the jury heard the accident happened at road works which did not conform to regulations because four warning signs on the approach to traffic cones funnelling traffic into one lane were at the wrong distances.

Seeboard, which was responsible for the works, was later prosecuted.

Judge John Sessions told Smith and Hepburn he was satisfied on the evidence that their cars were travelling at not less than 80mph.

He said when Hepburn came up behind Smith he had "taken up the challenge" instead of moving into the nearside lane.

But he told Hepburn, a postman, he had initiated the race by driving in what he described as a "threatening and oppressive" manner.

Mr Dey said: "We are very disappointed with the verdict and we are considering taking civil action against them because we feel our son's life is worth more than £700. I don't feel we got justice at all.

"Even if they got ten years it would not bring Barry back but at least we could have felt justice had been done."

West Sussex County Council said safety measures on the stretch where the accident happened would include safety barriers and speed warning signs.