A PENSIONER drove in to the path of an off-duty policeman on his way to a Worcester lunch club, a court heard.

The 85-year-old pulled out in front of the officer who witnessed him driving on the wrong side of the road and narrowly missing a head-on collision.

Idris Potter, of Thorn Avenue, Brickfields, Worcester, was today convicted of careless driving following a short trial at the city's magistrates court. He had denied the offence, on Sunday, October 1 last year in Blackpole Road.

Detective Sergeant Ian Small told the court he had been travelling along Blackpole Road on his way home to Droitwich, when a blue Renault Clio pulled out of Thorn Avenue, in front of him and began travelling down the right-hand side of the road.

"I expected the vehicle to come back to the correct side of the road but was horrified to see it did not," he said. "That alarmed me because I could see another vehicle coming in the other direction and thought I was going to witness a head-on collision."

DS Small told the court that the Clio, which was later identified as belonging to Potter, continued down the wrong side of the road, despite a car coming towards it.

"As the other vehicle approached I expected the Clio to swerve to the near side but it did not," he said. The court heard that the other vehicle, being driven by Elaine Price, had to swerve into the gutter to avoid a collision.

Miss Price told the court: "The vehicle was on my side of the road. I bipped my horn but it did not make any difference and I swerved the car to the left-hand side and the vehicle's wing mirror hit my wing mirror."

The court heard Potter continued on his journey, to have lunch at a nearby old people's home, without stopping. The off-duty officer followed him for a while to get his registration number, then returned to Miss Price to give her the details. He then reported the incident.

Potter represented himself at the trial and said he had no recollection of any incident on that day. He said: "I have been going down that road for about 70 years on a pushbike, motorbike and car and I have never driven in the centre of the road or on the wrong side."

"I cannot make it out," he added. "There was no mark on my car."

Magistrates found the pensioner guilty and fined him £100 with six penalty points put on his driving licence. He was also ordered to pay £100 prosecution costs.