A MUSICIAN who caused serious injury to a cyclist he was overtaking on a narrow Borders road has been disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Eighty-two-year-old Archibald Fisher pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to a charge of dangerous driving on the B709 road near Heriot earlier this year.

The pensioner from Fountainhall overtook the cyclist near a blind bend and was suddenly confronted by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

He braked suddenly and got back onto his side of the road but left the cyclist "with nowhere to go" and David Graham from Selkirk fell off his bike and collided with a fence post suffered soft tissue damage in his neck and a fractured wrist.

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Depute fiscal Alison Atkins said Fisher told a witness at the scene: "It was crazy, I don't know why I passed."

He tested negative for any alcohol but failed an eye test and was driven home and told to contact the DVLA.

He has not driven since the accident and says he does not intend to drive again.

Fisher denied his vehicle had touched the bike but admitted it was his driving which caused the accident.

He told the court: "I underestimated the speed of the cyclist. I braked severely which caused the cyclist to mount the verge.

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"At no time did I hit the cyclist.

"His first words to me were: 'You left me with nowhere to go'.

Due to Fisher's limited income, Sheriff Peter Paterson imposed 60 hours of unpaid work involving light duties because of his age.

He was banned from the road for 12 months and ordered to re-sit the extended test of he intended to drive again.