A motorist whose erratic driving resulted in police receiving a number of calls from concerned members of the public collided with a 40 foot lorry trailer on the A14, a court has heard.

The driver of the lorry was on the westbound carriageway near the slip road to Great Blakenham when he felt a massive jolt which felt as though his trailer had “come off the ground and then came back down again”, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

When the driver looked to see what had happened he saw a black Audi driven by Christopher Morrison which appeared to be out of control, said Michael Crimp, prosecuting.

The lorry driver pulled over to the left side of the road and could see the windscreen of the car had shattered and the passenger airbag had inflated.

Fifteen seconds after the first impact the trailer was struck again by the Audi which had then sped off, said Mr Crimp.

As a result of the two collisions there was a significant amount of damage to the trailer.

Shortly afterwards a motorist in the area of Hinderclay rang the police after being concerned at the way the Audi was being driven and another motorist who saw the vehicle being driven with a broken windscreen at Norton near the A14 also contacted the police, said Mr Crimp.

The Audi joined the A14 at Woolpit and a lorry driver who was driving towards Felixstowe was forced to sound his horn after looking out of his window and seeing the Audi “creeping” into his lane.

When the Audi reached the outskirts of Ipswich it pulled across the carriageway onto a slipway at the last minute, causing a car to swerve out of the way.

After receiving a number of calls between 6am and 8am from members of the public, police officers stopped Morrison in Henley Road, Ipswich, and breathalysed him.

He passed the breath test but as he had a facial injury and because the officers were concerned about his demeanour he was taken to hospital.

Morrison, 43, of Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, admitted dangerous driving on September 27 and was given a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years and banned from driving for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs.

Paul Donegan, for Morrison, said his client had earlier been admitted to hospital in Peterborough after an accident in his works van but had “foolishly” discharged himself .

He said Morrison was a diabetic and his driving on the A14 was either the result of an injury he had received in the earlier incident or a problem with his blood sugar levels. “He doesn’t have a great deal of recollection about what happened,” said Mr Donegan.