A TIPPER truck driver killed a talented student in a head-on collision after driving along a dual carriageway the wrong way, despite other drivers attempting to warn him of the danger.

Michael Friel, 57, kept driving on the A1 eastbound in East Lothian as other drivers swerved to avoid him and flashed their headlights before he smashed into Meghan Ambrozevich-Blair's car.

Miss Ambrozevich-Blair, 26, sustained multiple injuries in the crash and died despite efforts to save her, including aid given by an off-duty doctor and her fiance, who was walking his dog in a field near the accident scene and went to help.

Friel admitted causing her death by driving dangerously on December 9, 2016, on the road between the Spott and Thistly Cross roundabouts near Dunbar after performing a three-point turn and driving the wrong way in the face of oncoming traffic.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Miss Ambrozevich-Blair, who was a keen animal lover, was posthumously awarded a first-class honours degree in veterinary nursing from Edinburgh Napier University.

Advocate depute Alex Prenctice QC said that Miss Ambrozevich-Blair had left her home at Haines Drive, Dunbar, on the dark morning to drive to her part-time job at Vets for Pets at Straiton retail park before the collision.

Friel had also set off for work from his sister's home in Dunbar in the Ford Transit tipper heading for Little Spott.

Mr Prentice said: "He joined the A1 southbound [eastbound] and had almost reached Torness nuclear power station before realising he was travelling in the wrong direction for his destination."

He stopped and called his brother, who he worked for, and was told to return west to Spott Roundabout and wait for him at a supermarket.

Friel missed the turn at the roundabout and continued west on the A1 before realising that he had made a mistake.

He then pulled up and began making a three-point turn.

One driver negotiated a way past him and saw in his rearview mirror that the tipper was now being driven down the westbound carriageway in the wrong direction.

Mr Prentice said: "The accused drove in a southerly [easterly] direction in the northbound [westbound] carriageway. He encountered a number of vehicles travelling north [west] at speed."

"The drivers in five vehicles had to take immediate action by swerving and flashing headlights to avoid colliding with the accused's vehicle.

"Two other drivers saw the accused's vehicle and flashed headlights to alert him to their presence."

Mr Prentice said: "Two drivers noticed the accused appeared to be oblivious to the danger presented and that he was staring straight ahead while driving."

He said that Miss Ambrozevich-Blair was not travelling at excessive speed but overtook another driver who heard a loud bang after she took a bend and came on the crash scene.

The prosecutor said a number of people stopped and tried to help. They could see Miss Ambrozevich-Blair was trapped in her Kia Cerato and appeared unresponsive.

An off-duty doctor started performing CPR on her and her fiance, who had been walking the dog when he heard the collision, went to help the medic.

He also used another person's phone to call her parents and they went to the scene.

A firefighter spoke to Friel, who asked her: "When did this become a one-way?"

She said he was on the 'motorway' and that it had always been one-way. Friel replied: "It used to be two-way."

A breath test on Friel proved negative and he was taken to hospital for treatment to fractures he sustained in the crash.

Mr Prentice said that Miss Ambrozevich-Blair was in her fourth year at university at the time of her death and previously was awarded a medal as best HNC animal care student on graduating from an agricultural college in Dumfries.

He said: "A former pupil of Dunbar Grammar School, she regularly raised funds for the Scottish SPCA and campaigned against animal cruelty."

The judge, Lord Arthurson, deferred sentence on Friel for the preparation of a background report and allowed him bail.

He imposed an interim driving ban on Friel, of Greenmills Brae, Macmerry, who has one speeding conviction, and told him: "A substantial custodial sentence remains at the forefront of the court's mind."