A CARELESS driver who caused an accident which resulted in a man being taken to hospital with a broken leg has escaped with a £160 fine.

Billy Till, 21, of Gravel Road, Leigh, admitted driving without due care and attention in Eastwoodbury Crescent, Southend, on August 14, when he appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Till lost control around a bend and then smashed into a white van, the driver of which sustained a broken leg, cuts and abdominal pain in the impact.

Till received a cut to his head which required five stitches.

After ambulance crews and firefighters from Southend and Leigh arrived the van driver, in his sixties, was cut out and stretchered out of the vehicle and taken to Southend Hospital.

A teenage girl who was travelling with Till was treated for shock at the scene.

Speaking shortly after the crash, Connor Botwright, 22, recalled watching the drama from his home in Eastwoodbury Crescent.

He said: “I heard a loud smash and woman’s scream, and as I looked out, the Renault was still coming to a halt on the grass verge.

“The side was completely smashed.

“The poor passengers either couldn’t get out or were told not to.

“The whole left passenger side of the van was crumpled.”

St Laurence councillor Adam Jones, who has campaigned for a pedestrian crossing to be installed in the area, said he believed the sentence was too lenient.

He said: “My initial reaction to a fine of £160 is it seems the person who caused this accident got off lightly.

“There’s a serious issue we need to address in this town regarding speeding and careless driving, particularly in busy areas like St Laurence.

“The airport, Holiday Inn and restaurants in that area attract a lot of pedestrians and I often see elderly people trying to cross that road safely, which they need eyes in the back of their head to do.

“If there’s no pain in hitting the gas, then it’s human nature that people will do it.”

Till was also ordered to pay £90 costs.