Manchester United legend Nicky Butt has admitted to breaking the leg of a motorcyclist while driving in his Range Rover. At Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning, the 49-year-old admitted to a charge of careless driving causing serious injury. He was given an interim driving ban with a date for sentencing to be decided. The maximum sentence for such an offence is two years in jail or an unlimited fine.

Andrew Fielden, the victim, required surgery that led to rods being inserted into his left leg following the incident. The court was told that Butt, who wrote the victim a letter of apology, had suffered a “momentary lapse of concentration” when at the wheel of his vehicle. Prosecutor Graeme Tindall said: “What appears to have happened is a number of vehicles pass what appears to look like a HGV. Mr Butt, having let the HGV come past, pulls out and this is when Mr Fielden is coming past on the motorcycle.”

John Dye, defending the former footballer, said: “The loss of his licence is going to be extremely inconvenient to him and his family but that is the inevitable consequence of this case.”

Butt is currently chief executive of Salford City, the League 2 club whom he part-owns alongside a number of former United team-mates.