A WORCESTER builder overtook a police car on a notorious stretch of road at speeds of up to 85mph as he clinched a new business deal on his mobile phone.

Building contractor Paul Gregory was in the process of securing a £100,000 deal to work on the new Kidderminster Magistrates Court when he sped past the unmarked car on the A449 Dunhampton to Kidderminster road - a well-known accident blackspot.

Droitwich magistrates heard police officers were heading towards Kidderminster in the video car at around 1.45pm on Thursday, February 1 when they spotted the 33-year-old's blue BMW overtaking vehicles in a 50mph speed limit.

"The vehicle pulled in behind the police car just as the road went into a single carriageway," said Kerry Moreton, prosecuting.

"The officer saw the driver was engaged in conversation on his mobile phone.

"His left hand was on the steering wheel and the other holding the phone.

"The road opened up into a dual carriageway and the defendant pulled out into the second lane and accelerated to overtake the police officer and was in conversation on the mobile throughout."

She added the dual carriageway was still a 50mph zone and the police officers tried to follow the BMW, which reached speeds of up to 85mph.

Gregory told police he had a hands-free kit in the car but could not get a signal and said the phone call had been about a valuable contract.

Gregory, of Suffolk Drive, Blackpole, admitted driving in excess of 50mph on the A449 and not having proper control of his vehicle.

Richard Wilkes, defending, said Gregory, who had carried out work on the new police station in Worcester and several magistrates' courts, had been clinching a contract for the new Kidderminster Magistrates Court at the time of the offence.

"He was trying to have a conversation with his hands-free kit but he kept going out of signal," he said. "He accepts at one point he grabbed his mobile phone for a short period of time to say that he could not get a signal."

Mr Wilkes added Gregory had been speeding because he was late for work at the new Kidderminster court.

He was fined £600, had six penalty points added to his license and was also ordered to pay £30 costs.