THE parents of a motorised scooter rider have hit out at the law after York magistrates gave their son a year's driving ban for riding the vehicle while over the alcohol limit and without insurance.

Janet and David Mitchell, of Tollerton, said they were annoyed when their son, Barry, was given the year's ban, after police caught him riding his 15mph petrol driven Go-ped home from the pub along Water Lane while more than twice the legal alcohol limit and with no insurance.

Sentencing Mitchell, who said he did not realise he needed insurance to ride the vehicle on a public highway, York magistrates warned owners of the laws governing the scooters.

Mr and Mrs Mitchell said they contacted six insurance companies to try to cover the vehicle, but got nowhere.

Then when they made extensive efforts to discover what the legal status of the scooters was, the answers got more and more confusing.

Janet said: "I'm not saying he should have got off scot-free."

But she said: "You can't get it insured - we tried."

A DVLA spokesman explained that "mechanically propelled" vehicles needed to be licensed, registered and displaying number plates when on public roads.

"Motorised scooters (or Go-peds) meet the definition of motorbicycle in the legislation and they fall to be licensed in the Bicycle or Electric Motorcycle taxation class," he said.

But they would be "highly unlikely" to meet necessary road vehicle regulations - such as braking efficiency, lighting and suspension - although there was no provision in the law to allow registration to be refused.

"Therefore, it is the agency's view that vehicles of this type may only be used safely and lawfully on private land," he said.

Malcolm Tarling, press officer for the Association of British Insurers, said trying to find insurance for the motorised scooters was a problem.

"There's no legal obligation for insurance companies to provide cover, but that's not to say cover isn't available," he explained, adding that the youth of many riders of the vehicles meant they were vulnerable on the roads and therefore difficult to insure.

Updated: 09:19 Saturday, July 24, 2004