A NORTH-EAST motorist has made legal history after escaping a speeding fine by saying he could not remember who was driving his car when it was caught on camera.

The Crown Prosecution Service said last night it marked the first time a driver had successfully used the defence to appeal a speeding fine.

Self-employed Mr Rumble successfully argued at an appeal hearing yesterday that he could not say who was driving his Mitsubishi Shogun because as many as 20 people have access to it.

The excuse, dubbed the Roberts defence after a high-ranking North-East police officer used it to nullify a speeding fine, was accepted by Judge Guy Whitburn at Teesside Crown Court.

Conceding that the defence, allowed under the provisions of the Road Traffic Act, was open to abuse, Judge Whitburn warned Mr Rumble, 42, that he should keep a record of who used his four vehicles, three belonging to his recycling business and his privately-owned Shogun.

The case comes more than three years after Superintendent Adrian Roberts, of Cleveland Police, said he did not know who was driving his Citroen ZX when it was clocked speeding in Stockton.

Mr Roberts caused outrage when he escaped prosecution and a £60 fine by using the provisions in the law that protect vehicle owners in such cases.

The vehicle owned by Mr Rumble, of Bedford Street, Hartlepool, was clocked doing 58mph in a 50mph zone in Newton Bewley, near the town, last April.

He told Judge Whitburn he never received a notice of intended prosecution or a follow-up letter so was unaware of the incident until a summons arrived last October.

Judge Whitburn said: "We will allow this appeal and in doing so point out to the appellant that he really has to be very careful as to who it is who is using his vehicle at any time."

A CPS spokeswoman said: "As far as the CPS are aware this is the first time such an appeal has been upheld. It is difficult to say if the same conclusion could be reached in other similar cases."