A learner driver who pulled out into oncoming traffic at a notorious accident blackspot was ordered to pay more than £300.

Ronald Payot was driving a Citroen Picasso when he pulled out at the notorious Hare Green accident blackspot on Harwich Road and collided with an Audi A1 on the A120.

A passenger who sat in the back seat of the Citroen suffered a fractured rib and spent two days in hospital, following the accident on July 9 last year.

Another Audi was also initially reported to have been involved in the collision and police launched a man hunt for the driver after believing they had fled the scene following the collision, but this was not mentioned in the court case.

Payot, 43, of Hythe Hill, Colchester, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday afternoon after previously pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention and driving without a full licence.

The court heard Payot only had a provisional licence at the time of the offence but did not have a supervising driver in the car and was not displaying L plates.

He offered no mitigation at Thursday’s hearing but had previously said he had misjudged the speed of the traffic and the site was known to police.

Chairman of the bench James Addison said: “In reaching our decision we have taken into account your early guilty plea.”

Payot was fined £207, given six points on his licence, ordered to pay costs of £90 and a victim surcharge of £20.