A BRAIN surgery nurse caught six times in as many days by the same speed camera escaped a ban because of her life-saving work.

Neurosurgery theatre nurse Anne-Marie Warner, 33, was trapped as she sped to and from the private Nuffield Hospital, in Jesmond, Newcastle, where she worked with brain surgeons performing lifesaving operations.

The diabetic mother-of-one trained at a hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, where she became an expert in treating serious head injuries.

After separating from her partner, she moved to Newcastle to begin a new life, Newcastle Magistrates' Court heard.

Her experience dealing with gunshot wounds and the victims of car crashes made her an indispensible member of the Nuffield's neurosurgery team.

Warner was caught speeding six times in six days by a fixed camera on the 30mph Great North Road, close to her home in Gosforth, north of Newcastle.

Mitigating, Richard Arnott urged the court not to impose a ban.

He said: "She is new to Newcastle and did not realise the road had a 30mph limit. There were no signs.

"If she cannot drive she cannot fulfil her commitment to the hospital and the whole community suffers.

"The work she does in specialised and crucial. It is not often I can stand here and say I truly sympathise with my client, but I can in this case."

Warner, of West Avenue, Gosforth, pleaded guilty to six counts of speeding.

The magistrates agreed it would cause extreme hardship to Warner to take her licence and spared her a ban.

She was fined £360, ordered to pay £40 costs, and a total of 18 penalty points were put on her licence.

Chairman of the bench Frank Malcolm said: "We have taken into account the fact that you are a member of a highly specialised team which requires everybody to be present to work effectively.

"It is part of the nature of the work that you are required to attend should there be any problems with any one of your patients, should they suffer in any way."