A POLICE officer has gone on trial accused of dangerous driving after following a speeding Vauxhall Vectra driver who had made off without payment from a Tesco petrol station.

PC Adam Steventon pursued the thief for three miles along the A629 out of Skipton towards Keighley as it drove on the wrong side of the road and jumped a red light in a coned off 30mph road works.

The grey Vectra, in front of his marked police Astra, hit a red Citroen C4 head-on, spinning it in the road, hitting a gas bottle which began hissing and had to be turned off to prevent a potential explosion. Pc Steventon avoided a collision.

The thief then ran off towards Keighley with police in pursuit.

PC Steventon, 38, of North Yorkshire Police, has gone on trial at Hull Crown Court denying a single charge of dangerous driving on the A629 and Cononley Road on March 12, 2014.

Opening the prosecution case, barrister David Hall said PC Steventon was on duty in the Skipton area around 8pm when he saw the Vauxhall Vectra leave a Tesco petrol station in a hurry and became suspicious it was making off without payment.

“We say the way the defendant began to drive was dangerous,” said Mr Hall. “We say he crossed a solid double-white line. We say he exceeded the speed limit. We say he followed the Vectra too closely. So close it was dangerous. He then drove through a traffic signal when it was at red.

“The pursuit ended with the Vectra colliding with a car coming through road works.”

“There is no dispute he was the driver. This is not a who done it? I suspect the only aspect of this case we will ask you to consider in detail is was that driving dangerous. A person is guilty of dangerous driving if that driving falls way below that expected of a careful and competent driver and that that it would be obvious it was dangerous.”

He said during police interview, PC Steventon refused to answer questions, which was his right, but gave a statement in which he denied he was driving dangerously. He admitted he had been driving. He said he had operated his lights, he knew the road and said he had kept a safe distance back from the car for the most part.

Mr Hall said: “We the prosecution say that is not the case.”

Bridget Toth, a witness on the A629, said she heard the Vectra making a noise “like a loud racing motorcycle as she saw it pass in three seconds followed by the police car. She said: “I was surprised. I had never seen such a thing like this in Skipton before. Skipton is a nice quiet tourist area so this was unusual.”

Gary West, who was operating the temporary traffic lights on the A629, saw the Vectra and the police car jump the red light, but said he was powerless to stop the collision. He said: “The grey car was coming at 40-50mph. As far as I was concerned the light was at red. It must have overtaken a queue of cars. "The next car was a police car. It had flashing blue lights. It was about three to four metres behind it. There was no siren. The two cars passed me. I stood up and said what the hell. I heard a collision.”

Re-examining defence barrister Adrian Keeling put it to Mr West he was wrong about the distance between the police car and the Vectra. Mr Keeling said: “If it was 3-4 metres behind, it would have clattered in to the back. I suggest the distance between the two cars was 20 to 30 metres.” Mr West replied: “No definitely not.”

The trial continues.