A MAN with mounting court fines was given a last chance to pay them off when he appeared before magistrates yesterday.

David Zipfel, 30, of Whitby Way, Darlington, appeared at Darlington Magistrates' Court after failing to keep up with the payments of two outstanding debts of more than £1,700, a large part of which dated back to 1988.

But he assured magistrates that his payments would resume as normal from next week, and said he hoped to even increase the repayments if successful in an imminent job interview.

Chairman of the bench Alfred Walker said Zipfel could have been jailed, after appearing before the court on previous occasions for the same reasons.

However, he said he would give him until July 15 to get his payments of £40 a fortnight back on track.

If, when he appears before the court again, he has failed to catch up, Zipfel will be jailed for a total of 56 days, 32 days for the debt of £1,476 and 14 days for the debt of £281.