LORD Cardigan has been saved from a driving ban after successfully appealing against the sentence at Swindon Crown Court.

The 50-year-old Earl was disqualified for 28 days in April after he was convicted for not having insurance when he was stopped on the M4 in his Audi.

But Cardigan, charged under his family name of David Brudenell-Bruce, believed that he had been covered following a phone conversation with brokers in the Channel Islands and said he had not deliberately driven without insurance.

Judge Charles Wade, sitting with two magistrates, ruled that the ban, which had been suspended pending the appeal hearing, was unnecessary and replaced it with six penalty points.

Speaking afterwards the father-of-two who lives at Savernake Lodge in Savernake Forest, said "I am very pleased with the result which seems to be the proper outcome and thank you all."

Cardigan, who had no previous driving offences, was pulled over by police on the motorway at 9.20am on November 9 last year.

He was stopped because officers noticed his exhaust was loose and they ordered him to produce his driving documents at a police station.

However, he found he did not have any insurance. He also discovered he did not have an MoT and the Jersey driving licence he had been using for the past 28 years was only valid on the mainland for 12 months.

As a result he admitted driving without a valid driving licence, without insurance, without an MoT and without the registration document for the car.

On top of the ban he was also fined a total of £1,000, of which £600 was for not having insurance.

Martin Picton, representing Cardigan, told Swindon Crown Court that his client was only appealing against the ban imposed for the no insurance offence.

He said that at the time of the offence Cardigan's insurance was due for renewal and he had been shopping around for the best value cover.

After plumping for a policy with a broker in Jersey where his sister, Lady Sylvia Gould works, he believed he was covered.

However, he had understood that they required him to fill out a form and return it to them before they would issue a cover note.

Mr Picton said "It was a misunderstanding for which he apologises. He has learned his lesson. He thought he had done sufficient to get cover, but he had not. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this but he, at the best of times, is not the best listener.

"For a few days he was not covered and he happened to be stopped in that time. A disqualification of 28 days for this was inappropriate, excessive.

"While of course any matter of no insurance is serious, when it is inadvertent rather than choosing to go without then it is less serious."

Judge Wade said: "We have considered the matter, whether a period of disqualification for a first offence of no insurance would be warranted.

"We do wonder why any disqualification was imposed at all."

After the successful appeal hearing Cardigan said: "As soon as I was stopped I asked my insurance company for a letter, to show the police that I was insured I gave Chippenham Magistrates the insurers' reply, which read 'Fine. Just let us know to whom to address the letter.'

"How the magistrates decided I should be banned after they read that was always entirely baffling to me."