AN off-duty bus driver ran over a man on a notorious stretch of road outside Darlington, a court heard yesterday.

David Baldry was driving his Toyota Corolla along the A68 at Burtree Lane, when he crashed into a man who was carrying out repairs to a van on the embankment.

The man suffered a broken leg in the crash in May and is still recovering.

At Darlington Magistrates' Court yesterday 46-year-old Baldry, of Rowan Place, Newton Aycliffe, admitted a charge of careless driving.

James Thomas, prosecuting, said Baldry's car skidded out of control as he was passing a repair truck, which had stopped to fix a flat tyre on a Ford Transit van at the side of the road.

He said: "The two vans were pulled up, half on the kerb and half off, with their hazard lights on.

"It was wet that day, so the roads were very slippy.

"The defendant had been overtaking another car, and was returning to the inside lane. He admits he was travelling at 60 to 70mph.

"He applied his brakes when he saw the vans, but lost control and hit one of the men who was standing outside one of the vans.

"The man suffered a broken leg, for which he required attention in hospital for a week and various operations.

"He is now at home, and hopefully making a full recovery."

The stretch of the A68 next to the A1(M) has become a notorious accident trouble spot over the years, leading to calls from local residents to have the road layout changed, in a bid to stop the regular crashes.

Baldry was a bus driver for Stagecoach at the time, but now works for Arriva after the recent takeover of the company.

John Hardesty, mitigating, said: "It is not appropriate for any vehicle to park on the road there - my client certainly didn't expect it and the road was wet.

"This was his first road traffic accident. He has a record which shows a responsible attitude towards driving."

Magistrates endorsed Baldry's licence with three points and ordered him to pay a total of £205 in fines and costs.

A spokesman for Arriva said yesterday: "The offence took place outside of work hours and any circumstances relating to the case will be taken into account when we discuss matters with the employee."