A 60-YEAR-OLD man has abandoned his year-long attempt to clear his name of three motoring offences because he cannot produce his driving documentation.

Police stopped John Alfred Birch, of Tuke Avenue, Tang Hall, in Clifford Street, York on April 15, 2006, and asked him to show his driving licence, insurance and the vehicle's MOT certificate.

He did not have them with him and opted to take them to Fulford Road Police Station within seven days. When he failed to do so, he was prosecuted for having no insurance, no driving licence and no MOT certificate.

For months, the case was adjourned at magistrates' courts in North Yorkshire. Finally, after eight hearings, Birch accepted the charges.

He told York magistrates: "No-one wants to know. I can't make any more excuses."

He claimed he had sent the documents to Northallerton Magistrates Court, but court staff there say they have not seen them.

Birch also claimed his insurance company "didn't want to know" and had told him that because he did not have a driving licence, he could not have insurance.

But, he added, he passed his driving test on September 9, 1963, and his Vauxhall Carlton was covered by a MOT certificate up to December 6. He did not say of which year.

Magistrates told him it was up to him to prove he and his vehicle were legally on the road and fined him £25 with £45 court costs and banned him from driving for 56 days.

He told them he is not driving now. He takes 12 to 15 tablets a day for conditions including angina and his doctor had told him he was not medically excluded from driving. At a later stage of the hearing he said his doctor had told him he could not drive.