Robert Anthony, 37, had been with his Enterprise refuse collection crew for only three days when he reversed over Graham Bannister, a bin man of 17 years experience from Chorley.

The chairman of the magistrates at South Ribble, Derek Ashworth, said he had "grave reservations" over the amount of training given to Anthony, who pleaded guilty to careless driving.

He was disqualified from driving for two years and fined £400.

Andrew Sinker, prosecuting, outlined that on the afternoon of April 25 2007, Anthony had started reversing along Priory Lane, Penwortham "at or about the wagon's top speed of 10mph".

He failed to see 53-year-old father-of-five Graham Bannister until he went under the wheels of the truck. Mr Bannister was pronounced dead at the scene.

The court heard how Anthony, a father-of-two, had registered as an experienced HGV driver with local jobs agency Assist, having served in the Army for more than 10 years.

He was hired by Leyland-based utilities company Enterprise, who are contracted to provide South Ribble Council's refuse collection service.

Simon Gretton, defending, said: "Mr Anthony understood that the training was a bit of a rush and that driving training would take care of itself.

"The training he received did not relate to the driving of these wagons."

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Bannister's widow Eileen said she felt the accident was "avoidable" and now dreads every evening when she has to turn the lights out.

Reports from independent road collision experts said the reverse warning signal was working, as were the wing mirrors and rear camera. But it concluded that Anthony was travelling "not at a speed appropriate for congested, urban roads".

Sgt Steve Moon, senior investigating officer, briefly took to the stand to inform the bench that the health and safety executive had looked at South Ribble Council, Enterprise, and Assist, including all their training records, and had not found any fault on their part.

But in sentencing Mr Ashworth said: "Can I say to Elaine Bannister and her family we found this difficult because these circumstances should not have happened.

"We are expressing grave reservations with regards to training aspects of Mr Anthony which is no responsibility of his own."

He labelled Anthony as an "experienced HGV driver" who reversed at speed in a "careless manner which was a serious error of judgment".

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