A pensioner whose abortive attempt to park ended with her smashing into another car then drove off from the scene, Douglas magistrates heard.

Pauline Dorothy Brew was seen trying repeatedly to fit her Suzuki Vitara into a space outside the Mannin Hotel in Broadway, Douglas, on November 23 last year.

But she misjudged the manoeuvre, hitting a blue Mercedes parked behind. The sound of the crash was so loud it attracted the attention of a workman at the Villa Marina, who saw her drive off down Broadway, pausing only at the red traffic lights at the end of the road.

Michael Jelski, for the prosecution, said more than £800 worth of damage was done to the other car.

'She drove away without trying to contact the owner. The witness tried to attract her attention by waving at her. He could see the air freshener swinging inside the Mercedes because of the impact,’ he said.

The incident was captured on the hotel’s CCTV system. Brew, who is 76, said she was not able to stop after the incident because of the volume of traffic on Broadway which would have been obstructed. She said her driving was not careless as she was moving very slowly.

Defending her, Jim Travers said Brew had had a clean driving licence for decades.

'She accepts she misjudged the manoeuvre, something we have all done at times,’ he said.

'It was a low level offence and she was not in a position to stop and inspect any damage. The damage to her own vehicle was very minor.’

Magistrates’ chairman Alan Gelling said: 'It was quite some misjudgement: the workman heard the bang and it did over £800-worth of damage.’

She admitted careless driving and was fined £500 with £50 costs and a £200 contribution to the damage.