A motorist almost ran over two police officers who were carrying out a speed check when he swerved off a dual carriageway while trying to swat a wasp.
Raymond Heyhoe, 64, drifted into the lay-by where the officers were standing as he repeatedly tried to whack the wasp in his van with a rolled-up newspaper.
Tayside Police constables Keith Sutherland and Brian Anderson both had to flee from the lay-by as Heyhoe's van ploughed towards them at speed.
He almost struck the police car which was parked at the roadside before driving off and eventually pulling into the next lay-by on the A9 north of Perth.
At Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday Heyhoe admitted driving dangerously and said he had previously had a bad experience with a wasp nearly 40 years ago.
In a letter to court, he said: "I admit on the face of it, that to the police officers it seemed that I was driving dangerously.
"I explained to them a wasp had entered the van. I was trying to kill it with a newspaper. It happened very quickly. I then stopped in the next available lay-by."
Heyhoe told the court that he was semi-retired and Sheriff Lindsay Foulis deferred sentence for him to appear personally to be banned from driving next month.
The 64-year-old, of Bridge Street, Folkestone, Kent, admitted driving his van dangerously and at excessive speed at lay-by 68 on the A9 between Inverness and Perth.
He admitted causing his van to swerve across the carriageway into the lay-by and forcing the officers to jump clear to avoid being hit, before narrowly missed the parked police car.
Fiscal depute Robbie Brown told the court that it was not known if Heyhoe had been trying to swat the wasp "once" or "for five minutes".
