A MOTORIST who gave a false name to police was ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work.

Shaun Tyers, 23, was told by the judge that he would have been sent to jail if the innocent driver had been arrested and detained.

But the man had contacted police when he received a summons for not producing his documents, said Gillian Milton, prosecuting.

Tyers was traced because he gave his own name as the car's owner when police stopped the Escort on the A66 westbound, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Tyers said that he gave false details because he did not have a licence, and he was later disqualified for 12 months for another offence.

Judge George Moorhouse told him: "At your age, you ought to be pulling yourself together. You have let yourself down and let your family down."

Tyers, of Station Road, Loftus, was sentenced to 80 hours of unpaid work, 12 months supervision and ordered to pay £263 costs at £40 a week after he pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and driving without a licence and insurance on July 15 last year.