A brain surgeon who crashed his light aircraft into a family home was once warned his "landings were not as good as they should be", a court heard.

Donald Campbell, 54, is accused of endangering public safety after his hired Piper Seneca plummeted into a semi-detached home in West Street, Shoreham, when he allegedly ran out of fuel.

The consultant neurosurgeon is accused of making an "unforgivable" error by taking too little fuel into the skies after a blunder in converting US gallons to litres.

As a result, he partly demolished a £200,000 property near Shoreham airport moments after owner Helen Monahan had gone to collect her children from school.

A chief flying instructor told Chichester Crown Court how Campbell, who held a full private pilot's licence, first flew the twin-engine US-manufactured plane in January 2001 - three months before the crash.

John Peterson, of Sky Leisure Aviation, the company from whom Campbell hired the aircraft, said he had concerns about his flying of the aircraft during a "familiarisation" session.

He said: "His landings weren't as good as they should have been so I recommended a few more circuits."

Campbell, who later went up with another instructor, is alleged to have intended to fill up the plane with 30 gallons of fuel at Shoreham for a round trip to visit patients in Sheffield.

But he asked the refueller to put in 90 litres, which is 23 US gallons (6.3 gallons too little), and also failing to allow for a reserve which resulted in him running out of fuel on the return leg of the trip.

Mr Peterson told the jury: "Any calculation you do incorrectly is not acceptable."

Phillip Shepherd QC, prosecuting, asked him what the effect would be of flying with 20 per cent less fuel than required and Mr Petersen replied: "Obviously detrimental to the intended flight."

Mr Shepherd asked him whether that would be a major or a minor error and was told: "It could be a major one, especially if you haven't got any reserve."

Mr Petersen said the pilot of any hired aircraft was solely responsible for planning the amount of fuel.

Campbell, from Battle, denies endangering the safety of an aircraft and endangering the safety of any person or property.

Chichester Crown Court heard Campbell had flown the aircraft with flying instructor Dorothy Hockings, who said she had been told by Mr Petersen his landing had been unsatisfactory in an earlier session.

She said in a statement read to the court: "I recall we had to carry out a couple of extra circuits."

But the court heard after flying with Mrs Hockings he was authorised to hire the plane.

Shoreham airport air traffic control officer Robert Ruffle was on duty when Campbell crashed.

His statement read: "At about 2.53pm he stated he had a problem with one engine. I immediately contacted the airport fire service. I told the pilot to land at his discretion. He then called to say both engines had failed."

The statement said: "I saw it disappear over Shoreham and a large dust cloud appeared."

The case continues.