A driver was fined after passing a cyclist fell into a ditch – despite helmet camera footage showing he didn’t actually touch her.

Paul Nigel Miley, 52, drove by the female bike rider and her two friends in his Land Rover while they were on a narrow country lane in Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire on June 11 last year.

Helmet camera footage showed how the vehicle did not make contact but the cyclist appeared to lose her balance after the 4x4 had passed and she dropped into the ditch to her left. One of the cyclists was heard on camera furiously cursing at the driver to slow down.

The injured woman took the footage to Northamptonshire Police to file a case against the motorist Paul Nigel Miley, 52, who pleaded guilty when he appeared in court on March 18.

Authorities fined him £1,000 and ordered him to pay a further £100 in costs and a £101 victim surcharge for ‘driving without due care and attention’. He also received five points on his driving license.

PC Mo Allsopp-Clarke of the county’s Safer Roads Team said: ‘Miley initially pleaded not guilty to the offence, claiming he had driven extremely slowly past the group and was unable to move further across.

‘The video evidence clearly showed that Miley had no consideration for the cyclists on that day, and when he appeared at magistrates’ court, he changed his plea to guilty.

‘His driving fell below the standard of a competent and careful driver, which could have very easily ended in tragic consequences, and I’m pleased the courts have dealt with the driver positively.’

He added that drivers should make way for vulnerable road users, giving them some space and a few seconds to pass safely.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: ‘A driver who injured a cyclist has pleaded guilty at Northampton Magistrates’ Court after footage which captured his reckless overtaking manoeuvre was submitted to Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Snap.

‘Paul Miley, aged 52 years, of Ashby St Ledger, was recorded on a helmet camera driving without due care and attention as he drove past the group of riders near to the Northamptonshire village on June 11 last year.

‘The group had been riding along a single-track road when a Land Rover Defender drove towards them without slowing and forced its way past, causing one of the cyclists to fall off her bike. “The footage was uploaded to the Force’s Operation Snap online portal and when reviewed by police officers, the video proved beyond doubt that Miley had shown no consideration for other road users.

‘The footage was uploaded to the Force’s Operation Snap online portal and when reviewed by police officers, the video proved beyond doubt that Miley had shown no consideration for other road users.’