A MOTORIST who claimed he did not know he had been banned from driving was caught at the wheel on the way to the chip shop to buy his children's tea, magistrates heard.

Richard Hutchings said he only got the court notification of the ban two days after he was stopped by a police officer in Cranmore Avenue.

Louisa Thomas, prosecuting, said Hutchings, 36, of Trentham Close, Park South, was driving a Ford Fiesta when he was stopped by PC Barrie Card.

As he gave his details the officer noticed the tax disc belonged to another car and further checks revealed the car had different registration details and its driver was actually disqualified until May 2006.

When challenged he denied being disqualified and said he had not received a letter from the court telling him he was banned. But he admitted not having any insurance.

Mrs Thomas said he had four previous convictions for driving while banned. Yesterday he admitted driving while disqualified and having no insurance.

Philip Hall, for Hutchings, said the father-of-three had not intended to ignore or disobey the court's ban.

But he conceded that the defendant should have kept track of the court proceedings which led to the ban and that it shouldn't have been a surprise to him.

"A couple of days later he did know and by that time the damage was done," he said.

Mr Hall described Hutchings as the mainstay of his family. His wife was ill with depression and he was responsible for caring for the children ranging in age from a teenager to a toddler.

It was the previous owner of the Fiesta who had dumped it on him with the incorrect tax disc and had not bothered to register it.

The magistrates banned Hutchings from driving for two years and imposed an 18-month community rehabilitation order with a condition that he attends the Think First programme.

Tina Clarke