A SUFFOLK-based police officer who drove at more than 100mph has been banned from the roads for four months.

A SUFFOLK-based police officer who drove at more than 100mph has been banned from the roads for four months.

David Bird, 25, who is training with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, pleaded guilty to speeding when he appeared at Penrith Magistrates' Court in Cumbria on Friday.

The offence took place on April 11 on the southbound carriageway of the M6 at Tebay, Cumbria, when a speed camera clocked his Vauxhall Corsa travelling at 101mph.

Bird, of Carr Avenue, Leiston, had been asked to attend court because the Bench was considering a ban.

Steven Marsh, defending, asked the magistrates not to ban Bird, arguing that although he would not lose his job if he was banned from driving, it would cause him exceptional hardship.

He said Bird lived three miles from his place of work and there was no public transport, meaning he would have to cycle there and back, which could be difficult in the winter.

He added that since committing the offence, Bird had his licence revoked, as a new driver, because of other motoring offences, and re-sat his driving test again, before the latest speeding offence came to court.

Mr Marsh suggested that since Bird had already been through some form of rehabilitation, a driving ban would be unnecessary.

However, the bench said that although they did not find that a ban would cause Bird exceptional hardship, they did find the fact that he had been through some form of rehabilitation as mitigating circumstances, and reduced the term they would have ordinarily imposed.

They gave Bird six penalty points on his driving licence, which took him to 12 or beyond, which usually results in a six-month ban.

However, this was reduced to four months. Bird was also fined £190, and ordered to pay £35 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.