A coach driver who careered on to a main A66 roundabout while returning passengers to west Cumbria after a high profile rugby league match has gone on trial for dangerous driving.

Darryle Gordon Warren, 52, was behind the wheel of a 53-seat Reays vehicle on October 7, 2017, transporting around 40 people - including a pregnant woman - back from the Grand Final at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium.

Opening Warren's trial at Carlisle Crown Court today, prosecutor Charles Brown said the trip organiser spoke with the driver as they headed north on the M6. This was amid growing passenger concerns the coach was "veering" out of lane one, on to the hard shoulder and into lane two.

When it was suggested Warren stop for a rest or that another driver be called, he allegedly replied: "I wish I could go to sleep. Tell them all to calm down."

Warren joined the A66 westbound, Mr Brown said, approaching Crosthwaite roundabout at Keswick "at a speed too high to negotiate it" at around 11.20pm.

It mounted the central island and "came to a stop bogged down in grass and mud". Nobody was seriously hurt and no other vehicle involved, but there were some minor injuries.

"The prosecution say that Mr Warren was displaying - not just in the few moments at or before the entry of the vehicle on to the Keswick roundabout but for some time before that," said Mr Brown, "the signs of a man struggling to stay awake at the wheel."

The prosecutor further alleged Warren's coach was "wandering from lane to lane, faster and slower, that this was obvious to the passengers, and that he was warned about this but persisted in carrying on driving".

Warren, of Scotland Road, Carnforth, denies one charge alleging his driving was dangerous and fell far below the standard expected of a careful and competent driver. Jurors have heard he admits a lesser charge of careless driving.

The trial continues.