A SERIAL road rage driver ended up violently attacking a pensioner with a bottle, a court heard yesterday.

William Bell, 63, needed hospital treatment for a cut to his head when Michael Watson attacked him in a motorway lay-by, it was alleged.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that before the attack Mr Watson, 42, had been involved in two other incidents with motorists as he drove his green BMW estate car around busy North-East roads.

It ended with Watson forcing motorist Stephen Bell off the road before lunging at him, flooring his father William, and breaking a bottle over his head, the court heard.

The incident happened as Mr Bell and his father were going home to Morpeth, Northumberland, in their Ford Mondeo after a trip to Leeds along the A1, on January 5, last year.

As they passed the Angel of the North, at Gateshead, at about 7.45pm, they were forced off the road by a BMW, after Mr Bell had sounded his horn at its erratic driving.

Prosecutor Penny Moreland told the court that the BMW driver forced Mr Bell into a lay-by where a struggle broke out.

Mr Watson punched William Bell in the face, knocking him on to the inside lane of the dual carriageway.

The court heard that the pensioner was then hit over the head with a drinks bottle that Mr Watson retrieved from his car.

Police eventually forced Mr Watson to the ground and handcuffed him.

Miss Moreland told the jury how this incident followed two previous similar outbursts by Mr Watson on other motorists at North Shields and Wynyard, in Durham.

Mr Watson, of Darras Hall estate, in Ponteland, Northumberland, denies dangerous driving and causing actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.