A QUANTITY surveyor whose work takes him around the country convinced magistrates not to ban him from driving, despite committing his fifth speeding offence.

Andrew Hockey had admitted two counts of speeding in his Land Rover Discovery.

The first charge involved him driving at 89mph in a 70mph zone on the A12 at Kelvedon at 4.56am on May 16, 2016.

The second offence involved doing 65mph in a 50mph zone on the A120 at Little Bentley at 10.42pm on May 18, 2016.

Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard Hockey already had nine penalty points on his driving licence from three other speeding matters and he wanted to appear in court to explain why he should keep his driving licence.

Hockey, 48, of The Street, Tendring, argued he had to set up a new business on top of his freelance work as a quantity surveyor.

It meant he had to travel around the country, sometimes having to spend long days on the road, as explained by the times he was caught by the speed cameras.

Hockey said he needed to take files and safety equipment with him to construction sites and using public transport would not allow this, especially if clients demand to see him straight away.

He told the court he also had “a large family” with his three children and two step-children living with him and he had a mortgage to pay.

He added he attended a speed awareness course last May, as directed by police, and had “learnt a lot” from it.

Magistrates agreed banning Hockey from driving would cause him exceptional hardship and they took into consideration he had not broken the speed limit since attending the course.

They fined Hockey £210 with three penalty points for the first speeding offence and £210 with four penalty points for the other with £90 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Magistrates added having 16 penalty points on your licence was “quite unusual” and told Hockey: “Driving is important to you. You need to be careful."