A pensioner who could not contain his anger at speed cameras ended up in court - even though he was snapped doing only 20mph in a 30mph zone.

Frank Benson, 71, was so incensed at the camera that he took both hands off the steering wheel to flick a double V-sign at the speed trap.

But he had not reckoned on the police officer operating the camera filming his two-fingered salute.

And Mr Benson's act of defiance landed him in court - charged with not having control of his car.

The part-time plumber was fined £100 - but only after he had given South Lakeland magistrates a lecture on the history of the V-sign.

Mr Benson, of Selside, Cumbria, spotted the camera on Shap Road, Kendal, only three weeks after he was fined £60 for driving at 44mph in a 40mph zone.

After his latest court appearance, he said: "I said to my colleague, knowing full well we were doing 20 mph, 'they can't catch us today!'

"Without thinking I just whipped up two fingers at the camera.

"The explanation I gave in court of a V-sign was that its origin goes back as far as the Battle of Agincourt.

"The British bowmen gave the French the V-sign because when a bowman was captured by the French, his two bow fingers were cut off.

"The V-sign is a defiant gesture by the bowmen saying 'All right you French buggers, come and get me'.

"I have my two shooting fingers and mine was a defiant act."

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said Mr Benson had been caught by a mobile camera operated by a traffic officer.

"The officers will record anything that breaks driving laws," he said.