A PEER of the realm drove his BMW through two sets of red traffic lights, magistrates heard yesterday.

Magistrates in Richmond, North Yorkshire, were told Viscount Mountgarret jumped the first set at roadworks at Catterick Garrison, despite the fact the car in front was waiting for them to change.

However, the major at the wheel of the stationary Peugeot he overtook commands the garrison's closed-circuit television surveillance room and, in a letter read out in court yesterday, he said - once the lights went green - he decided to follow Viscount Mountgarret's vehicle.

Although the peer's car slowed at the junction of Gough Road and Richmond Road, the M-registered car jumped another set of lights - this time in full view of one of the security cameras.

The major said he went immediately to the CCTV control centre to check if the offence, on October 6, had been caught on camera and then alerted local police.

Viscount Henry Piers Mountgarret, 66, of Stainley House, South Stainley, near Harrogate, pleaded guilty by letter to one charge of failing to comply with red traffic lights. He was fined £100, ordered to pay costs of £45 and awarded three penalty points on his licence.

Although he admitted the offence, the Old Etonian and former president of Yorkshire Cricket Club described it as a minor breach of the law.

He claimed he jumped the first set of lights just before they changed to green while the second set were on amber as he approached and he thought it safer to drive through than use his brakes.