A 51-year-old man from Bride has been fined £500 for careless driving after knocking a motorcyclist off his machine.

William David Sayle, of Ayre View, admitted the offence after a charge of causing serious bodily harm by careless driving was withdrawn.

Sayle also had his licence endorsed with six penalty points by magistrates.

Prosecutor Rebecca Cubbon told the court that the incident took place on June 30 last year on Cranstal Road in Bride.

Sayle was camping in a field and pulling out onto Cranstal Road in his Renault Clio at 4pm.

The biker was riding towards Bride and was hit by Sayle, knocking him off his bike causing him to fracture his left clavicle.

A witness on a motorbike behind the victim said that both bikes were travelling at around 35mph when they heard a loud bang and saw the rider flying through the air landing around 20 yards down the road.

Sayle was interviewed by police and said he had been camping and that he knew the entrance was not the best to pull out of. He said that he edged out but the hedge was quite overgrown.

Sayle said he suddenly saw the biker and started to reverse but could not avoid the collision.

Defence advocate Deborah Myerscough handed in references for her client and extracts from medical records which she said they did not wish to be disclosed in open court.

Ms Myerscough said that the case had taken so long because there had been three adjournments due to a road traffic collision expert’s report being completed.

The advocate said that this had resulted in the charge being amended to careless driving.

She said: ’Mr Sayle was co-operative at the scene. He was helpful and stayed with the victim. He went for a voluntary interview and gave a full account to the police. He has had a driving licence in excess of 20 years and has not been in any trouble since 2008.’

Ms Myerscough went on to say that a driving disqualification would mean Sayle losing his job and due to health issues he would have difficulty finding another one.

Magistrates chair Carol Maddrell said: ’We accept this was a momentary lapse at what is quite a tricky junction.’

Sayle will pay the fine at a rate of £50 per month.