A SELF-EMPLOYED painter asked a friend to help fraudulently tax his car to start his business, a court heard yesterday.

Mark Alistair Gibson pleaded guilty to three driving offences when he appeared before Darlington magistrates.

They included fraudulent use of a tax disc, driving without insurance and driving without a licence when he was stopped by police in Fenby Avenue, Darlington, on July 7.

David Maddison, prosecuting, said Gibson, 30, of Moorview Road, Northallerton, said police found the car's tax disc belonged to another car.

He told them he had asked a friend to get a tax disc for the car. He paid £30 for the disc.

It had been taken from a car stolen the previous month in Darlington.

Claire Brinton, mitigating, said Gibson had wanted to get his business up and running.

He had passed his theory test and was due to sit his practical test in August.

She said: "He accepts he shouldn't have been driving at all."

His car has since been destroyed. Gibson was fined a total of £350 and ordered to pay £43 costs and a £15 victim support surcharge. He was also given six penalty points.