A BANNED driver who flouted the national lockdown by driving repeatedly on North Yorkshire’s roads has been jailed for 22 weeks.

John James Richardson, 31, broke the law 18 times in two weeks as he drove two cars on the Yorkshire coast.

Police caught him on April 8, driving a black Audi on the the road immediately outside Whitby Abbey, nearly 30 miles from his home.

The 31-year-old admitted he had no valid reason to be there.

It was one of four times police caught him at the wheel, York Magistrates Court sitting in Leeds.

Three days earlier, police had stopped him in the same car on Valley Road, Scarborough, although he doesn’t live in Scarborough.

They also caught him twice, on April 19, in the Audi and on April 12 in another car, in Filey, his home town.

On two of the four occasions he had drugs on him, but every time he was stopped, he refused to take a test to see if he was drug driving.

He also falsely claimed to an insurance company on April 6 that he had a driving licence in a failed bid to take out a valid insurance policy.

Richardson, of South Crescent Avenue, Filey, pleaded guilty to breaking the coronavirus stay at home regulation on April 8.

He also admitted 17 other offences, including five of failure to provide blood or saliva samples, four each of driving whilst disqualified and without insurance, two of possessing cannabis, one of possessing diazepam without a prescription and one of making a false statement to obtain insurance.

In addition to the 22-week jail term, he was banned from driving for four years and 11 weeks.