A NEWSAGENT who allegedly weaved across the M5 and forced lorries to swerve to avoid him was finally cornered by a trucker on the slip road.

Darren Burton told Worcester Crown Court he followed Jhalman Singh for 11 miles before trapping him near Junction 4 at Bromsgrove.

Singh had cut up the lorry on the approach to the motorway at Junction 1, near West Bromwich, and was then seen to swerve between lanes, it was alleged.

At one stage, Mr Burton claimed Singh actually stopped his car on the motorway, forcing another lorry to swerve sharply.

Mr Burton's HGV came to a halt just a foot from the back of Singh's Vauxhall Cavalier.

Singh, aged 60, of Heath Lane, West Bromwich, denies dangerous driving on Thursday, January 31.

Mr Burton told the jury yesterday that he had left Great Bridge, Tipton, with a 24-tonne cargo bound for Southampton.

He claimed Singh cut in front of him.

"Without any indication at all, he went straight on to the M5 and started to drift over into the second lane. Then he jolted back into lane one then the hard shoulder," Mr Burton said.

As the lorry driver reached the brow of Frankley Bank, he spotted another lorry in front of him.

"I saw smoke coming off the trailer tyres. As he braked, he swerved into lane two and I could see the Cavalier had completely stopped in the first lane," Mr Burton alleged.

"I had to brake too and stopped a foot behind the Cavalier. It was a very frightening experience."

Mr Burton contacted police on his phone, and followed Singh off the motorway at Junction 4.

As the two vehicles approached the roundabout, the lorry driver pulled his vehicle in front of Singh's to block him in, and removed the keys from Singh's car until police arrived.

PC Richard Janes claimed Singh "appeared drunk, was unsteady on his feet and there was an overwhelming stench of liquor".

On three occasions, he failed to provide a roadside breath specimen, the court heard.

Singh, who lost his job at a Bromsgrove newsagents' following the alleged incident, denied he had been swerving on the motorway, or that any lorries had been forced to brake.

He claimed that Mr Burton had been abusive to him back at Junction 1. The trial continues.