An enraged pensioner killed a Coulsdon man during a dispute over queue-jumping at a rubbish tip, a court was told this week.

Colin Jones, now 72, is accused of lashing out at David Henson, 53, because he pulled in front of his silver BMW estate to enter the refuse collection site in Epsom.

Mr Henson, a chartered surveyor from Coulsdon, was taken to Epsom General Hospital and died of heart failure two days later.

On Monday the Old Bailey was told the father-of-two had unknowingly been suffering from an enlarged heart, which was put under strain during a minor operation.

Victor Temple QC, for the prosecution, said Mr Henson's death was a direct result of the attack on a Sunday afternoon in January last year.

He told the jury: "The defendant was the aggressor and resorted to physical violence. He grabbed the deceased man's arm, slamming it down over the window and wrenching it back and forth, causing a fracture of the upper arm.

"But for his unlawful act of assault, and but for the operation which only took place because of the assault, David Henson would not have died."

Mr Jones, a retired consultant engineer, denies manslaughter and grievous bodily harm.

The court heard the two men had been "jostling for position" near the entrance gate, where queues from West Ewell converge with those from Epsom.

Neither driver, Mr Temple said, behaved particularly well, "good manners being lost to both of them".

When Mr Henson's borrowed red Vauxhall Astra pushed ahead, the older man left his vehicle, screamed abuse then began his violent assault, it is alleged.

The defendant later told police that he had struggled to remove his arm after Mr Henson grabbed his wrist.

He claimed that Mr Henson had been "in a frenzied, ballistic state".

The trial continues.