A woman accused of lying to police to protect her learner driver brother received a telephone call from him within minutes of him overturning his car in a late night crash on the Norfolk and Suffolk border, a court was told.

Simon Musk made a four second call to his sister Louise Kerry at 12.30am on July 4 last year - four minutes after police received a 999 call about the accident in Botesdale, near Diss, jurors at Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Musk had made another call to her, lasting 18 seconds, at 12.38am, said Richard Witcombe, prosecuting.

The court also heard that Kerry had made calls to her brother and mother between 12.36am and 12.43am.

It has been alleged that Kerry arrived in Botesdale after the collision and told a police officer that she had been in the car with her brother when the crash happened.

Musk, who was a provisional licence holder which required him to display "L" plates and to be supervised by a qualified driver, also allegedly told the officer that his sister had been in the car with him.

"The prosecution say they both chose to lie because they knew Simon Musk had been driving that vehicle unaccompanied and was liable to be prosecuted for driving otherwise than in accordance with his licence," said Mr Witcombe.

Musk, 31, of Church Close, Roydon, and Kerry, 28, of Ash Drive, Eye, deny intending to pervert the course of justice by falsely claiming she had been in the car.

The court heard that Musk's car ended up on its side after hitting a parked car and witnesses allegedly saw Musk standing up in the vehicle with his head out of a window on his phone.

Mr Witcombe claimed that following the collision Musk had left the scene to make a telephone call and had returned shortly afterwards with his sister.

When a police officer questioned Musk about him being a provisional licence holder Musk allegedly said: "But I wasn't on my own. My sister was in the car with me. I never said I was on my own."

When the officer asked Kerry if she had been in the car she allegedly replied: "Yes."

Mr Witcombe said Musk and his sister denied telling police she had been supervising him in the car at the time of the accident.

The case continues.