A careless driver left a woman with life-changing injuries after causing a serious head-on collision.

Joshua Keen, a factory worker from Maidstone, drove a white Peugeot Partner van onto the wrong side of the road, smashing into the victim’s Hyundai.

His dashcam footage also showed him driving erratically in the moments before the crash.

His vehicle can be seen weaving within his own carriageway and on several occasions almost mounting the grass verge and going over the centre white lines separating the north and southbound traffic.

The collision, in Mayfield in Sussex, close to the Kent border, caused both him and a 43-year-old local woman to sustain life-changing injuries.

The 24-year-old, of Queens Road, was not able to explain how he had ended up causing the head-on collision.

At Lewes Crown Court on April 18 he admitted causing serious injuries by careless driving.

He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and has been banned from driving for one year.

The court was told the incident happened on January 16 last year at Mark Cross near Mayfield, just south of Tunbridge Wells.

The A267 was closed for several hours while emergency services attended.

The victim spent several weeks in Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton recovering and still receives rehabilitation treatment today.

She said: “Keen’s manner of driving has caused me life-changing injuries which has impacted not only me but my family as well.

“It is clear that any motorist driving on the road needs to pay attention all of the time as the consequences can be devastating.”

Speaking after the case, PC Richard Brand from the Roads Policing Unit said: “Driving any vehicle on the road is a privilege that comes with the responsibility for all motorists to drive with proper care and attention.

“Any lapse in concentration, whether that is through tiredness or being distracted can have profound consequences.”