Claridge, 42, appeared at Coventry Crown Court to deny a charge of dangerous driving on the M42 motorway on December 30, 2006.

He was pulled over by an unmarked police car on the southbound carriageway between junctions 4 and 3, after allegedly repeatedly undertaking other vehicles at high speed, the court heard.

Nigel Wilkins, prosecuting, told the jury that football pundit Claridge drove at high speed on wet roads, repeatedly switching lanes and causing other drivers to brake sharply.

Pc Geoff Bell, one of the two uniformed officers to pull Claridge over, told the court: "The road conditions were fairly treacherous, the roads were wet, there were quite a lot of puddles on the carriageway.

"It was drizzly and visibility was reduced at the time."

Pc Keith Dyson estimated Claridge's speed at "100mph or more" and added that it was dark at the time of the incident, which was around 6.40pm, and glare from headlights and brake lights had reduced visibility.

Both officers described Claridge "jumping up and down" on the hard shoulder when he was pulled over.

Pc Dyson said: "As I started speaking to him he started jumping up and down on the hard shoulder, holding his crotch and acting like a child desperate to go to the toilet."

The officer said he eventually allowing Claridge to go down a grass embankment to relieve himself.

Claridge, dressed in a dark suit and green shirt, vehemently denied driving dangerously.

He told the court: "It certainly wasn't dangerous. It wasn't the best bit of driving I have ever done but it wasn't dangerous."

He refuted the allegation that his speed had reached 100mph, telling the jury he had been driving at "slightly in excess of 70mph".

Claridge, of Fareham, Hampshire, was on a month-long contract with Bournemouth FC at the time, and was driving home from Blackpool. He denied it had been raining.

The trial continues today.