A woman told of her horror as a police car travelling at breakneck speed crashed in to a hotel, yards from where she was standing.

Janine Ayre, landlady of the Neptune Inn, Hove, was walking home when she saw the marked car driven by PC Sean Allman crash.

Allman, 38, of The Close, Brighton, appeared at Lewes Crown Court yesterday charged with dangerous driving.

He is said to have driven the Volvo estate on the wrong side of Kingsway, Hove, on August 5, 2001.

His colleague, Acting Sergeant John Burgess, who was in the passenger seat, suffered a fractured pelvis and cuts to his head and arms. Allman has denied the charges.

Mrs Ayre told the court that after locking her pub at about 11.30pm, she stopped by St Catherine's Lodge Hotel to get her keys out.

She said: "I saw a flashing light coming towards me on the wrong side of the duel carriageway.

"The car went, seemingly out of control, very fast around the corner in to Medina Villas and I heard a loud collision. It was travelling at breakneck speed."

Mrs Ayre told the court she was "very shaken up".

The court heard the car had hit the curb of the central reservation before crashing into the hotel.

Vehicle examiner David Monk said he could not find any defect on the car that could have caused it to crash and there was no evidence of a blow-out or tyre failure.

Defence witness Leslie Stillwell, an accident investigator, said street lighting was out along some of the road, which could have affected the driver's vision.

The case continues.