Two drivers who raced each other at up to 130mph on the A47 have kept their licences following what a court heard was a 'moment of madness'.

Lloyd Green, 30, and Michael Tilden, 52, were both driving on the A47 slip road at Trowse at speeds of between 100mph and 130mph.

Waseem Raja, prosecuting at Norwich Magistrates Court yesterday, said Green's Ford Mondeo and Tilden's VW Passat, appeared to be racing each other at about 3.50pm on May 30 last year.

Mr Raja said: 'Both vehicles were being driven aggressively and without due care to others.'

Both Green and Tilden admitted driving without due care and attention.

Representing himself, Green, of Ditchingham, said he did not know the driver of the other vehicle and was just trying to join the motorway from the slip road. He said they just went from one point to another at a high speed.

The defendant, a deputy manager at Aldi and father of two, said he started work at 4am and relied on his car to work.

Richard Wood, mitigating for Tilden, admitted it was a 'ridiculous' piece of driving but said his client was a man who otherwise had a clean licence.

Mary Wyndham, chairman of the magistrates, described it as 'extraordinary' and an 'appalling' piece of driving.

Before endorsing Green's driving licence with nine penalty points she said: 'This was a very silly thing to do. It was a moment of madness but you don't seem to be someone who's driven badly because your licence is clean.'

Green was fined £350, ordered to pay £100 costs and a £35 surcharge. Tilden, of Mundesley Road, North Walsham, also had his licence endorsed with nine points, given a £500 fine, ordered to pay £100 costs and a £50 surcharge.

Peter Jermy, 68, whose 16-year-old daughter Lisa was killed by a speeding drink driver in a crash in Norwich in 2006, said it was 'idiotic' and a 'hell of a speed' that the pair were driving at.

But Mr Jermy said, given the circumstances, including that no-one was hurt, the fact they would now have to 'keep their heads down' to avoid a ban the punishment was right.

A spokesman for Norfolk police said: 'The potential consequences for anyone driving too fast for road conditions and without due care and attention could be tragic for the drivers themselves as well as other road users.'