A HIT-and-run charge against a 93-year-old driver who crashed into an ambulance was dropped on Friday.

But pensioner Dorothy Roblou, of Lower Road, Charlton All Saints, admitted careless driving and failing to report an accident to police.

She crashed her Peugeot 106 into a Fiat Ducato ambulance on the A338 at the Nunton junction on October 23 at 3.10pm.

Salisbury Magistrates Court heard she was attempting to cross the dual-carriageway when she misjudged the position of the ambulance and pulled out into its path at about 20mph.

The court heard the crash caused only minor damage.

The prosecution dropped a charge of failing to stop at the scene, accepting that Roblou had pulled over further down the road.

The driver spoke to her, but she did not give her details because she did not understand the correct procedure, having never been in a crash before.

She felt vulnerable as she was alone, the court heard.

The charge sheet said the ambulance driver and passenger had been injured in the crash, but prosecutor Vyvyan Thatcher said no one was hurt.

Defending, Trevor Line said Roblou had been driving for the last 75 years, having started running deliveries for her parents’ shop in Bodenham, just a few yards from where the accident happened.

The court heard Roblou didn't know she had to report the accident. She had never been in trouble with the police before and suffered “a momentary lapse of concentration,” Mr Line said.

“Mrs Roblou is a very experienced driver, she has been driving for many years and she does renew her driving licence every three years.”

Magistrates ruled that failing to report the accident did not justify a driving ban, but endorsed Roblou’s licence with five penalty points, the minimum allowed by law.

There was no separate penalty for careless driving.

Magistrate Richard Trahair said the junction was “a challenge at the best of times”.

Roblou was fined £165 and ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs.