A MAN who fled the scene of an accident on Christmas Day which left a woman with back injuries will have to serve a community rehabilitation order.

Neil Beck, 21, was told he could have been jailed after admitting driving without due care and attention, failing to stop after an accident, failing to report an accident and driving without insurance.

Beck, of Quaker Lane, Darlington, appeared before magistrates at Newton Aycliffe yesterday to be sentenced for the offences.

David Maddison, prosecuting, told the court that Beck's Vauxhall Nova collided with a Renault Megane when he attempted a U-turn in Haughton Road, Darlington, on Christmas Day.

Beck drove away from the scene. A female passenger in the other car was left with back injuries, which will require a scan next month.

Police later found Beck's car, which had struck a concrete post, and arrested him the following morning.

He denied he had been driving the car in three police interviews, but later admitted it had been him after he was identified by the other driver.

John Wager, the solicitor representing Beck, said his client expected to start a new job on Monday.

He said: "He behaved very foolishly when he drove away from the accident.

"All he needed to do was stop and leave his details and the matter would have been cleared up without any problem."

The court heard that since the accident, Beck had been disqualified from driving for a year and fined £100 for an offence of drink-driving and driving without insurance in November last year.

For the latest offences, magistrates imposed a 12-month community rehabilitation order. Beck was also banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay £200 compensation.