A CONSTRUCTION worker on the Bruce Street Bridges rammed a car with a tipper truck in a queue of traffic while disqualified for drink-driving because he thought he could get behind the wheel for work.

Stephen Bentley had been driving the truck from one site back to the depot, along Rodbourne Road, when he shunted the driver in front of him.

Despite having been banned from public roads twice, in 2008 and 2014, for drink-driving, the 41-year-old, of Sevenfields, Highworth, said he thought he had been allowed to drive between the sites.

Hashim Chaudri, prosecuting at Swindon Magistrates Court on Friday, said a woman had been in traffic in Rodbourne Road when she was struck from behind.

"She was frantically trying to stop her car from moving," he said. "When she looked in her rear view mirror she could see a dump truck which she thought was going to run over her.

"In her statement, she says at first she didn't understand what was happening, she tried to brake without stopping, and started to panic because she couldn't see anything out of her rear view mirror.

"When she looked out of her side mirrors, she realised it was a very large truck. She tried to brake, then accelerate, and realised she was trapped. At this point she says she was completely terrified and screaming.

"She describes the driver coming up to her with a piece of her car in his hand. She is crying hysterically, and he says 'sorry, I didn't see you'.

"He admitted he was disqualified at the time but had been driving for work, and because he was near work he thought that disqualification did not apply."

Richard Williams, defending Bentley, said he had lost two jobs as a result of what happened.

"If you imagine the type of vehicle he was driving, the maximum speed was very limited," he said. "In essence this is approaching the Bruce Street Bridges where there were some work pipes being laid along the road, and the main depot is back along the other side of the bridges.

"He believed he could drive the lorry from site to site. That is not the case. It is a public road, and therefore he is disqualified. He was not told by his employers he should not have been driving on that road, but he accepts responsibility for what happened.

"He was in a queue of traffic and a large lorry was approaching, and he went into the back of a 4x4. He would say her car was not shunted forward a great length. He went over to see if she was okay, and took her spoiler back to her.

"As a consequence of what happened he has lost that job. He managed to find himself another job, but because he has come to court he has lost that job as well. He accepts now that driving work is not for him, but he does want to continue working in society."

Bentley, who still has two years to run on his disqualification, was given a 12 month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work.

For driving without insurance, his next licence will be automatically endorsed with six penalty points, and for driving without due care and attention, he was fined £100, with £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.