A doctor who fled the scene of a crash in which a car overturned trapping a woman in the wreckage has been reprimanded by the General Medical Council.

Dr Arunkumar Ganesan, 31, who did not have a driving licence, drove home after causing the collision in Darlington.

The driver of the other car, Audrey Wilks was left trapped in the wreckage of her overturned Vauxhall Agila.

A former specialist in orthopaedics and trauma at Darlington Memorial Hospital, Dr Ganesan was later convicted of a string of driving offences at South Durham Magistrates' Court.

Dr Ganesan, now of Wellington Road, East Ham, East London, admitted driving without due care and attention, driving without a licence and failing to stop after an accident.

He was fined £500 and £35 court costs following his court appearance on January 13 last year.

The doctor was also given six penalty points on his licence following the accident which occurred at about 6.50am on October 24 2002 in Darlington.

James Rowley, for the the GMC, said Dr Ganesan, a father of one, was driving to a nearby shop in his Volkswagen Passat at the time of the accident.

Full story in The Northern Echo tomorrow.