A respected police officer who crashed his van on an emergency call has described his embarrassment at ending up in court.

Sergeant Richard Siggs, 37, was cleared of dangerous driving after a trial at Hove Crown Court but the jury convicted him of the less serious charge of careless driving.

Today Siggs appeared in court for sentence. He escaped a driving ban but his licence was endorsed with seven penalty points and he was ordered to pay £70 costs.

After the hearing the officer said: "I set myself high standards and I am embarrassed I have fallen below my own high standards."

The sergeant, an officer for 19 years, still faces internal police disciplinary proceedings.

Siggs offered a guilty plea to the charge of careless driving at a hearing at Eastbourne Magistrates Court but his plea was rejected by the CPS and the case went to crown court for trial on the charge of dangerous driving.

He said: "I have acknowledged my sense of guilt from the beginning and I have stood up to my responsibilities in that respect.

"The support I have received from family, friends and colleagues as well as other members of the public has been overwhelming and very much appreciated in what has been a very stressful 20 months.

"I am looking forward to now getting back to concentrating on my work policing the street community and our efforts to rehabilitate drug offenders."

During the trial in December last year the court heard how Siggs crashed in June 2005 after driving through red lights at Preston Circus, Brighton, and hitting a Ford Focus driven by an Italian student.

The sergeant, a trained response driver based at Brighton police station, was on his way to a pub fight in the city.

He told the jury he was checking for hazards and had not seen the traffic lights in Beaconsfield Road change to red.

Witnesses estimated his speed at between 40mph and 70mph but he described the estimates as wildly exaggerated and believed he was travelling at up to 35mph as he crossed the junction.

The court heard how Siggs managed to avoid crashing into drinkers outside the nearby Hare and Hounds pub and people on a pedestrian crossing.

Judge David Rennie said he had taken into account Siggs' good record when deciding whether to impose a driving ban. He told the officer he had served the community for a long time in an exemplary fashion and said he had been given character references which described him in glowing terms.

He added: "Your driving on that night causes me very real concern. You failed to observe the red light when it was unsafe to do so and hit a car, containing four people, on a junction. You manoeuvred your van in such a way to minimise the risk and harm to people on the pavements. Quite possibly because of your skill no one was injured significantly."

At the trial Superintendent Graham Bartlett described Siggs as one of the most respected officers in Brighton and Hove.

Siggs has been entitled to drive police vehicles since the investigation began but has been suspended from response driving. He will undertake a two-week course and exam before being permitted to re-join the response driving team.