A COUNCILLOR has been handed a three-figure fine after a court heard his speeding case.

Carl Quartermain, a councillor on Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, was fined £102 and given three penalty points on his licence after his car was clocked driving at 39mph in a 30 mph zone in Devon.

The 51-year-old, of Yew Tree Avenue, Redcar, did not attend yesterday’s hearing at Teesside Magistrates Court and was given a £102 fine and three penalty points as well as a £30 victim surcharge.

He had admitted speeding after previously denying it.

A second charge, of failing to identify the driver, was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service after he changed his speeding plea to guilty.

Prosecuting, Anthony Pettengell said Quartermain had been unsure of who was driving when his Honda Jazz was clocked speeding while he and his wife were on holiday in the south-west last February.

But Quartermain’s solicitor Sarah Lish said he now accepted that he had been driving the car.

Quartermain is a cabinet member for culture, tourism and communications at Redcar and Cleveland Council alongside his role as ward member for Coatham.