A tipper truck driver who killed a talented vetinary student in a head-on collision was driving the wrong way on a dual carriageway, a court has heard.

Michael Friel kept driving on the A1 Edinburgh to Newcastle trunk road as other drivers swerved to avoid him before he smashed into a car being driven by Meghan Ambrozevich-Blair.

Ms Ambrozevich-Blair, 26, sustained multiple injuries in the crash and died despite the efforts of medics at the scene.

Friel, 57, admitted causing her death by driving dangerously in December 2016 on the road between the Spott and Thistly Cross roundabouts, near Dunbar, in East Lothian, after performing a three-point turn and driving the wrong way in the face of oncoming traffic.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard Ms 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 Ms Ambrozevich-Blair had left her home at Haines Drive, in Dunbar, on the dark morning to drive to her part-time job at Straiton Retail Park, at Loanhead, 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, in East Lothian.

Mr Prentice said: "He joined the A1 southbound 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 north to the Spott roundabout and wait for him at a supermarket."

Friel missed the turn at the roundabout and continued north on the A1 before realising that he had made a mistake and pulled up and began making a three-point turn.

One motorist saw in his rear-view mirror that the tipper was now being driven down the northbound carriageway in the wrong direction.

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

He said that Ms Ambrozevich-Blair was not travelling at excessive speed before the fatal crash.

Ms 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.

The former pupil of Dunbar Grammar School regularly raised funds for the Scottish SPCA and campaigned against animal cruelty.

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 Macmerr, in East Lothian, and told him: "A substantial custodial sentence remains at the forefront of the court's mind."