A driver who pulled out and killed a motorcyclist who was on his way to a memorial service for the legendary motorbike road racer Mike Hailwood has been convicted of causing death by careless driving.

Lorraine Ferris, 51, of Hall Gardens, Colney Heath, was yesterday placed on a 12-month community order and told to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.

Judge Richard Foster also banned her from driving for 12 months, ordered her to take an extended re-test before regaining her licence and told her to pay £300 prosecution costs.

Luton Crown Court heard that motorbike rider Neal Christian, 64, was thrown into the air and travelled ten metres along the carriageway after he crashed into her blue Fiesta.

Mr Christian, from Enfield, had met up in Hertford with six other bikers to make the journey to Norton motorbike factory in Birmingham and were to then go to a memorial service for Hailwood in a nearby church.

Prosecutor Rachel Drake said the crash happened at between 9.25am and 9.30am in the morning of Sunday, March 20, last year.

Ferris was taking her partner and two children to Norfolk for the day from her home in Colney Heath when she pulled onto the "longabout" on the A414 from Colney Heath High Street and struck Mr Christian, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ferris, who was cut out of the her car and was treated for fractured ribs and a punctured lung, denied causing death by careless driving.

When interviewed in May last year, Ferris told the police she was taking her partner and children for a day out in Norfolk. She said she stopped for a few seconds to see if the road was clear and saw nothing else.

The prosecutor said: "She was adamant she did not see the motorcyclist. She made a catastrophic error in her judgement. If she did stop and look it is clear she did not look properly.

"She was not keeping a proper look-out and pulled out in front of oncoming traffic."