A SPEEDING motorist has escaped a driving ban because he is a company director.

Joseph Peter Hughes, 42, who was represented by barrister Giles Grant, told Harrogate magistrates he suffers from strong travel sickness if he is a passenger in a car and therefore has difficulty using any form of motorised transport unless he is driving.

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But he has to attend construction sites on a very regular basis because he is director of a family-run construction business, currently with 29 sites.

He claimed the firm’s clients insist on only dealing with directors, and not with site managers.

Hughes, of Fullicar Lane, Brompton, near Northallerton, admitted breaking the 70 mph speed limit on the A19 at Knayton while driving a Ford Mustang on November 15, 2020.

He was fined £666 and ordered to pay a £66 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs. Three penalty points were put on his licence.

Hughes claimed he had suffered from travel sickness since he was 10 and cannot take beta blockers to relieve his condition because he works on constructions sites.

If he lost his driving licence, his company would collapse, Harrogate magistrates heard.

He said it currently employs 320 people and he has held a driving licence for 24 years.

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