A LEIGH man who tried to fool the police with a phoney insurance certificate bought in a pub for £30 came close to wrecking his new career as a lorry driver.

But Rochdale magistrates accepted Peter Waterworth's special reasons argument for not banning him.

Waterworth (24), of East Bridgewater Street, Leigh, admitted driving without insurance and fraudulent use of an insurance certificate.

Waterworth told the magistrates it had been a time when he was out of work and could not afford to pay for insurance. He pleaded that a disqualification would cost him his job as a lorry driver for a Cheetham Hill firm of builders.

Magistrates decided not to ban him but added six licence penalty points to the six he already had and fined him £250 with £43 court costs.