Will Young has earned himself a 6-month driving ban for 'narrowly missing' a man and crashing his Mercedes into a parked car during a snow storm in January.

The pop star - who already had 11 points on his licence, as well as a drink driving conviction dating from 1998 - drove into a lay-by on the way to Edinburgh at 40mph when the owner of a Nissan Qashqai was forced to 'jump clear to avoid being struck'. Young then braked suddenly and lost control of his Mercedes 4x4, which hit the other car and 'wrote it off'.

Young's lawyer said that he had mistaken the bollards which marked the entry into the lay-by for the central reservation, and was 'extremely apologetic' for the mistake. He had taken the man into his car to shelter him before calling police.

Sherrif J Euan Edment said: "I understand it's been a momentary lapse in concentration. To your credit you pled guilty from the outset.

"You took the man into your car - dealt with in in a very honourable and responsible manner."

He imposed a 6-month ban and 5 penalty points.