A MAN who drove while banned was fined – but left court better off than went he went in.

Shop worker Adeel Qasim, 24, had been seen on Skipton Road at Foulridge, by police making checks.

They found he was not insured, Burnley Magistrates’ Court was told.

Qasim, of Waterbarn Street, Burnley, admitted driving while disqualified and using a vehicle with no insurance, on February 28.

He was fined £80, with a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs and banned for three months.

When he appeared in court, he had owed £1,165 in fines. District Judge James Clarke cut the amount by £500, leaving him with a total to pay of £850. He told the defendant: “Ironically, you are slightly better off than when you came in.”

Parveen Akhtar, prosecuting, said police followed the defendant’s Vauxhall Vectra to a petrol station on the North Valley roundabout at Colne.

He admitted straight away he was banned until May 2014 and had no insurance.

The defendant, who was not legally represented, said he now used the bus to get to and from work and was sorry for the offences.