HARROGATE magistrates have allowed the manager of a car dealership and a motorcycle dealership to keep his licence after he was caught speeding on the A168 in North Yorkshire.

Sohail Khan, 41, would normally have been banned from driving for at least six months under the totting-up procedure because of the points he already had on his driving licence before his conviction, the court heard.

He told magistrates he is in charge of three dealership sites in three different parts of the country which sell, service and repair cars or motorcycles.

After he told them of the effect banning him would have on the businesses, why he couldn’t get someone to drive for him and other matters, magistrates decided not to ban him from the roads on the grounds it would lead to “exceptional hardship”.

Instead, they gave him three penalty points, fined him £492 and ordered him to pay a £197 statutory surcharge and £90 prosecution costs.

Khan, of Thorpe Thewles, near Stockton-on-Tees, pleaded guilty to speeding on October 1, 2022 at Crakehill between Dishforth and Thirsk on the A168.

The dealerships are in Gateshead, Stockton and Leeds, the court heard and he estimated the amount of driving he does means that he buys £400 to £500 of fuel per month.