A LANDLORD whose driving disqualification ban had four days left to run took to the roads citing a “business emergency” which he claimed left him with no time to use a taxi or bus.

A LANDLORD whose driving disqualification ban had four days left to run took to the roads citing a “business emergency” which he claimed left him with no time to use a taxi or bus.

Kevin Hunt, who lives at the Station Hotel in Ipswich, which he runs, was fined more than �3,000 at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court yesterday for taking to the roads in a moment of madness.

The court heard how on the afternoon of February 17 last year he decided to get behind the wheel of his Mercedes lease car despite still being banned until February 21 for a speeding-related offence.

Police officers stopped him in Burrell Road, Ipswich and checks on his vehicle found he was disqualified from driving.

Hunt, 62, formerly the landlord at the Crown Hotel in Framlingham, pleaded guilty to driving when disqualified and without insurance.

His solicitor Diana Infanti said an employee who acted as his chauffeur during the ban had been sick and when an emergency came up at the care home he owns near Stowmarket he panicked.

She said he heard there had been a dispute with one of the residents and the distance involved, coupled with the fact he had no money on him, led him to commit the offence.

District Judge David Cooper said his actions were irresponsible but credited him for his business achievements against a tough upbringing in a children's home.

He banned him from driving for three months and issued him with a �3,000 fine for driving while disqualified, a �500 for driving without insurance and a total of �75 costs.