A BLACKBURN man has avoided being disqualified from driving after being caught speeding after he said he would lose his job and potentially leave his family homeless.

Shane Cook, 47, was caught driving 37mph in a 30mph zone, through roadworks on the inner ring road in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Cook, of Preston Old Road, Blackburn, admitted to speeding on the A64(M) in the city on April 21, 2021, while driving his Citroen Dispatch van.

He pleaded guilty to the offence at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court on September 28 last year, and his case was adjourned until November 4 and then until June 15, again in Bradford, for a hearing to discuss whether he would face a driving ban.

During the court hearing, magistrates took the decision not to hand him a totting up disqualification, after hearing Cook’s mitigating circumstances.

He told the court if he were banned from driving he would lose his job, which might result in the loss of his home, which is mortgaged, and he shares with his wife and three children, court documents show.

Instead, he had his driving record endorses with three penalty points, and was handed a fine of £153, while being ordered to pay court costs of £110 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £34, for a total amount on £297.