Ian Fitzgerald said he had checked in all directions before proceeding

Ian Fitzgerald, 29, sped through the lights at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour before crashing into a green Peugeot 206 driven by Rosemary Fenney, jurors at Reading Crown Court heard.

Mr Fitzgerald, of Barn-Glebe, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, denies causing death by dangerous driving last October in Newbury, Berkshire.

In a police interview, he told officers he had checked in all directions before proceeding through the traffic lights at the junction of the A4 London Road.

I didn't know what it was, a car or a bike or what it was and then there was a bang Ian Fitzgerald

Just moments later his Mercedes Sprinter ambulance collided with 40-year-old Mrs Fenney's car, and she died instantly of multiple injuries to the head and chest.

Jurors heard how Mr Fitzgerald told the interviewing officer: "I looked left, to the right ahead and then looked back again, there was nothing moving.

"The next thing I saw was a green streak, it was like they do in a film or something like to make it look as if it's moving really fast.

"I didn't know what it was, a car or a bike or what it was and then there was a bang."

Rosemary Fenney, 40, died instantly in the crash

Mr Fitzgerald, who had qualified as an ambulance driver six months earlier, claimed he had only been in second gear, travelling no more than 20 to 25mph.

During his training, he was told to treat red lights like give-way signs and stop if necessary.

But the prosecution alleges that Mr Fitzgerald was driving with excess speed and did not take enough care.

Around 10 witnesses told the court he had been moving between 40 and 60mph, one of them saying he had been "driving like a nutcase".

'Sped away'

Another witness, Lesley Blake, was in her silver Vauxhall Astra with her five-year-old daughter when she saw the Mercedes Sprinter ambulance skip the lights at an estimated speed of up to 40 mph.

Ms Blake saw the ambulance hit Ms Fenney's car and send it careering across the three-lane road into a traffic island and into a lamp post.

She said it was her impression that the ambulance had slowed down when it first came up to the lights, but then sped away.

But other witnesses to the accident on a busy junction of the A4 London Road said the ambulance had not slowed down at all.

The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.