A DRIVING instructor faces losing his job after being caught using a car without insurance.

Alan Taylor, 51, of Warren Close, Darlington, pleaded guilty to driving without insurance when he first appeared at Darlington Magistrates’ Court on December 6.

The court heard he had been driving an uninsured car back from a garage when he was stopped by officers carrying out routine checks on Neasham Road on September 9.

The case was adjourned to allow Taylor to check his insurance documents again and his guilty plea was accepted in court today (Thursday, December 20) when he confirmed that he was not insured to drive the vehicle.

District judge Kristina Harrison said: “Given what you have written here, that you are a driving instructor and could lose your job, I thought it would be worth bringing you back into court to check your policy didn’t cover you for other vehicles.”

Taylor had previously told the court that the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) had the power to revoke a driving instructor’s permit to teach learner drivers if they collected six or more points on their licence.

Judge Harrison said by law the minimum number of points awarded for a no insurance offence was six.

She endorsed Taylor’s licence with six penalty points, fined him £220 and ordered him to pay £50 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.