Former police driver lost temper at warden

Stephen Sayers, 43, who worked as an advanced police driver during his time in the Lancashire force, drove his Audi A8 onto a traffic warden’s foot as the warden tried to stick the ticket on the car.

Sayers, of Station Square, Lytham, was found guilty of dangerous driving and failing to stop after an accident in Pleasant Street, Lytham.

His lawyer Gerry Coyle told Blackpool magistrates: “Before this trial started my client and the prosecutor agreed he could plead guilty to careless driving.

“However, the director of the Crown Prosecution Service for this area told the agent prosecutor to proceed with the change of dangerous driving.

“This means when found guilty he faces a certain disqualification. A ban means he will will lose his job as an estimator going round pubs which require work doing on them.

“In that job he travels all over the UK. On the day of the incident he had been lazy.

“He dropped off his daughter and waited for her in a taxi bay.

“This is a man who is an advanced police driver, one who has driven Prince Charles several times.”

Magistrates heard that witnesses watched as the traffic warden approached the Audi after printing a £35 ticket on his ticket computer.

As he walked up to the Audi he heard the engine rev and move forwards trapping his foot beneath a tyre.

“Effectively he parked on my foot,” said the warden.

“Then he started to come forwards and knocked me over in the road.

“I was carried on to the footpath and then taken to hospital with a leg injury.”

The hearing was told that Sayers drove off and went in hunt of a police station where he wanted to report the warden for being over-bearing and hot tempered.

Sayers was banned from the road for a year and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work for the community.

The court also ordered him to pay his victim £100 compensation, court costs of £300 and victim’s surcharge of £60.

He will also have to take an extended re-test before he can drive again.