AN ambulance driver facing prosecution for speeding while delivering a life-saving organ for transplant yesterday admitted breaking the law again while on a similar dash in the North-East.

Mike Ferguson revealed he broke the limit while taking a liver from Middlesbrough to St James's Hospital in Leeds last Saturday.

His admission comes after he hit the national headlines when he was clocked at 104mph on the A1 in Lincolnshire as he sped towards Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on January 16.

In both the Lincolnshire and Middlesbrough cases, Mr Ferguson was driving a car rather than an ambulance, which would have been exempt from the speeding offence.

But Cleveland Police backed Mr Ferguson. A spokeswoman said: "We would not prosecute in these circumstances."

During a Press conference yesterday organised by his union, the GMB, Mr Ferguson, 56, was asked if he would break the law again.

He said: "I actually had to do it last Saturday morning. I did break the speed limit then. I admit it.

"But again it was a response I had to complete as someone was waiting for an organ. It was a detail from Middlesbrough to St James's Hospital in Leeds."

Lynn Robson, transplant co-ordinator at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital, said that drivers were discouraged from speeding, but they knew that every minute counted.

"Time is of the essence, and each organ has a maximum delivery time," she said. "Livers have to be transplanted within 12 hours, while hearts and lungs are even shorter - around five hours."