INSURANCE saleswoman Samantha Romanus defied a driving ban to put petrol her car.

But she was caught out by driving slowly in an attempt to conserve what fuel she had left as she neared a filling station.

A court heard yesterday that because her slow speed held up traffic on Harrogate's busy A59, between the Jennyfield Estate and New Park, police decided to pull her over.

After carrying out checks, Romanus, 21, was back before Harrogate Magistrates' Court - where a 16-month ban had been imposed for drink-driving - to plead guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance. She was told by magistrate Brian Pattyson that she had come close to being jailed.

Romanus, of Newby Crescent, Harrogate, was made subject to a 12-month community order, requiring probation supervision, and completion of 200 hours of unpaid work. A new ban, for two years, was ordered along with £50 costs.

Geoffrey Rogers, mitigating, said Romanus had driven only a mile or two, and had gone slowly in the hope of conserving fuel. Police had spotted the queue of traffic behind her and by the time they got to the car it had stopped because it was out of petrol.