MYSTERY still surrounds how a man came to be lying in the A65 where he died under the wheels of a cattle truck.

Drystone waller Harry Chamberlain was walking home to Skipton with his dog when he was hit near Draughton at about 7pm, on January 8, an inquest was told.

Craven coroner Rob Turnbull also heard how Mr Chamberlain, of Rombalds Drive, Skipton, could also have been hit by a car, possibly a taxi, which has never been traced.

The 47-year-old was lying in the road, his torso and head in the Ilkley-bound carriageway with his dog at his side, when he was run over by the cattle wagon driven by Howard Smith, of Selby.

Mr Smith, who was returning home from Skipton auction mart, said he was near the junction to Draughton, when a car overtook him, squeezing in front, braking as it did so. Immediately afterwards he felt his back wheels go over a bump.

"I'm not sure if it was a taxi which overtook me - the taxi light could have been a bright brake light on the rear of a 4x4. I'm not sure whether he ran over Mr Chamberlain or not, but then I felt a bump.

"I looked to the side and saw a woman standing in the rain on the grass verge and I knew something must be wrong, so I stopped."

He discovered a number of other people who had managed to swerve passed Mr Chamberlain and had run back to assist.

One was Sophie Bairstow of Collinge Road, Cowling, who had been a passenger in a van returning from Clitheroe auction.

She said: "It looked like a wagon was coming up the road and we knew we needed to get back because it could hit him. By the time we had turned round and got back, he had been hit by the wagon."

She ran down to the scene and took Mr Chamberlain's pulse but believed he was already dead.

His dog was still there "growling, nervous and protecting" him before it was approached and ran off, she said.

Sarah Watkins, of Regent Road, Skipton, told how she swerved to miss what she thought was a bundle of rags and then turned round when she realised it was a person.

"I saw the lorry come down the road and heard it go over Mr Chamberlain. I saw what I thought was a taxi just before the wagon, which swerved and then carried on towards Ilkley."

The inquest heard that a post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Chamberlain had drunk the equivalent of twice the drink-driving limit but, being a regular drinker, it was unlikely to have affected him as much as it would a light or non-drinker.

He had earlier bought four cans of lager in Ilkley and then set off to walk through Addingham.

Mr Turnbull recorded a verdict that Mr Chamberlain died as a result of a road traffic collision.

He said: "We will never know for certain why he was lying in the road in such a vulnerable situation. There was nothing Mr Smith could have done to avoid him."