A TAXI driver from west Cumbria with 12 points on his licence will not be banned from the roads despite driving a cab without the right licence or insurance.

Robert Tinnion, 45, of Frizington Road, Frizington, was given the points – which normally lead to immediate disqualification – after pleading guilty to two charges of driving a taxi without a hackney licence and no insurance.

But magistrates in Workington yesterday accepted that disqualifying Tinnion from driving for reaching the 12-point threshold would cause him exceptional hardship.

Instead he was fined £200 and told to pay £50 costs.

Tinnion received six penalty points and was fined £100 for each of the two dates he drove a hackney carriage for Select Cabs, of Silloth, without insurance; April 24 and 25, 2006.

There were no separate penalties for the two charges of driving the hackney carriage while unlicensed.

Tinnion was prosecuted following investigations by Allerdale Borough Council and an anonymous tip-off.

Select Cabs proprietor Stanley Glover, 56, of Pica Cottages, Pica, pleaded guilty in court last September to charges of aiding and abetting Tinnion to drive a hackney carriage when not a licensed driver and without insurance. He was also fined £200, received 12 penalty points and was ordered to pay costs of £75.

Trevor Gear, Allerdale Council’s legal officer, said: “This successful prosecution is just one of several over the last year. This prosecution serves to remind people that private hire vehicles and hackney carriages can only be driven by licensed and insured drivers and that any breaches are taken very seriously.”

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