Motorist Joseph Palmer sped away from police at 80mph after he was spotted using his mobile phone behind the wheel, a jury has been told.

The 33-year-old nearly knocked over an elderly man who was wheeling his bike across the road as he drove away from the pursuing patrol car.

And Palmer drove his BMW so fast that police had to give up chasing him because it was deemed too dangerous.

Then when they found him minutes later at his Walcot home he was dripping with sweat and had the car keys in his hand.

But Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told Swindon crown court that the two issues in the trial were: was it him driving and was it dangerous?

WPC Jaime Gothard told Swindon crown court she was on patrol on Marlowe Avenue at about 5.30pm on September 1 last year when she saw Palmer behind the wheel of his H-reg BMW 318.

She said he was turning on to Marlowe Avenue from Maitland Road when she realised he was talking on the phone.

Palmer pulled out and she turned round to follow the vehicle, which had pulled over on to the single carriageway section of Drakes Way.

"He made off at speed and pulled out into heavy traffic. It was the rush hour, there was heavy traffic."

At the Drakes roundabout he turned left on to Queens Drive and reached 80mph, causing other cars to carry out emergency stops to avoid him.

He turned left on to Frobisher Drive where she said he started to lose control of the vehicle causing smoke to come from the tyres.

He then turned left again onto Raleigh Avenue where he touched speeds of up to 70mph.

She told the court an elderly man was pushing his bike across the road and had to jump out of the way when he was just a few yards from the speeding car.

He then went up the single carriageway part of Drakes Way to Marlowe Avenue and, close to where the chase had started, the officer said she was told to stop the pursuit.

She said that soon after members of the public directed her and a colleague to the rear of the shops where the car was parked.

The bonnet was hot and the engine was making a clicking sound as it cooled down, she said.

When the officers went to the nearby flat where Palmer lives they found him sweating and with the keys in his hand.

WPC Gothard said she immediately recognised him as the driver and asked him to hand over the keys, but he refused.

Palmer, of Marlowe Avenue, denies a charge of dangerous driving.

The case continues

Tina Clarke