A DAD has admitted driving carelessly after witnesses saw him speeding moments before an elderly lady was knocked down by another car.

Mudasser Ali, 34, of Dover Street, Nelson, was found to be driving at 46mph in a 30mph zone just before pedestrian Kathleen Ellis was hit by another driver.

Burnley Crown Court heard that Ali was not driving the car, a VW Golf, that hit the 74-year-old but he was driving at ‘excessive speeds’ in an Audi.

Prosecuting Frank Dillon told the court that at around 8.20pm on May 8 last year Mrs Ellis was crossing Colne Road, Brierfield on foot when she was struck by a Golf that was being driven at high speed.

Mr Dillon said: “We say driving at a very high speed in a built up area on a summer evening when there are other pedestrians about is intrinsically careless.”

He said the bad driving was witnessed by a number of people, one who heard two engines revving and estimated the Golf was travelling in excess of 70mph.

Another driver estimated the speed of the Golf as it approached a roundabout was around 50mph to 60mph and described the Audi as ‘driven at a similar speed’, which caused him to take ‘evasive action’.

Another told the court he thought the two cars were travelling in convoy or racing, however this was denied by Ali in an interview.

Mr Dillon said: “There is footage of the Golf crossing the roundabout fairly quickly and the Audi at a lower speed. There is some distance between them.

“The crown are not in a position to say he knows or has been in contact with the driver of the Golf.

"This is a case of careless driving primarily of high speed.”

Defending Ali, Mark Stuart, said the most reliable guide from the experts was that he had driven at 46mph in a 30mph zone.

He said: “He was wrong to do what he did but in my submissions it would be measured in points rather than disqualification.

" It was not a lengthy period - probably 200 metres.

"It was a short distance and he did not cause an accident.”

He added Ali, a father-of-two with a disabled son, who works part time at Morrisons, was the only driver in his household.

Fining him £100, recorder Katherine Pierpoint said Ali had driven at an ‘inappropriately excessive speed’ and he was given six points on his licence.