BORN-AGAIN biker Paul Vause could not resist the lure of the open road when he took his 1000cc Honda for a Sunday morning ride on the A1(M) in North Yorkshire, a court heard yesterday.

But as he headed north at Marton-le-Moor, near Boroughbridge, his joy quickly evaporated.

Police had recorded him travelling at 127mph. When Vause, 47 pleaded guilty to speeding, his solicitor Gus Kennedy told Harrogate magistrates he had passed his motorcycle test at 16, but had spent many years not riding.

He had taken up motorcycling again 18 months ago, and had been out for about 45 minutes on May 25 when police stopped him.

Mr Kennedy said: "It is not very often nowadays that we are confronted with an open road, but he found himself in that situation. Traffic was very light indeed and the weather was dry and bright and the joys of the open road went to his head.''

Vause, of King's Close, Pontefract - who drives a car 35,000 miles a year in his job as an operations manager - was fined £500 with £45 costs. He was also banned from driving for four months.