A new driver drove at high speeds and crossed double white lines as he chased another car out of Skipton, a court heard.

Daniel Sedgewick, 18, told the officer who eventually stopped him on the A59 that he had been chasing the car in front, Skipton magistrates heard on Friday.

A police officer had seen a Vauxhall Astra closely followed by Sedgewick in a Peugeot 106 leave the town centre at around 10.20pm on May 24. He followed the two cars along Newmarket Street and out towards Otley Road, driving at 50mph to catch up.

He reported both cars driving faster than safe for the road at around 60mph and witnessed Sedgewick passing a slower moving vehicle on a blind bend, crossing a solid white line.

The officer, who had put on his blue lights, stopped both vehicles on the A59 and issued the driver of the Astra with a caution.

Sedgewick, who admitted driving without due care and attention, told the court he had been unaware of the solid white lines on the road but accepted that the officer must have been right.

His licence was endorsed with seven penalty points and he was fined £180 with £45 costs and a £15 victims surcharge. Magistrates told Sedgewick, of Selside, it would be up to the DVLA to decide whether he would have to re-take his test or revert back to a provisional licence.