A DISQUALIFIED driver has been fined £320 after smashing his car into an off-duty policeman's vehicle.

Fredrick Morrison, of Peaton Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence, without insurance and driving without due care and attention when he appeared before Teesside Magistrates' Court, yesterday.

The 55-year-old, who paid just £30 for his Ford Escort, said he panicked after he collided with the other car on September 5 at the King's Road and Beaumont Road junction, in North Ormesby, Middlesbrough.

In mitigation, Elizabeth McGowan said: "He wishes he hadn't drove away from the car when he crashed - he just panicked."

Magistrates' chairman Valerie Dawson fined Morrison a total of £320, endorsed his licence with ten penalty points and ordered him to pay £40 court costs.