A MAN who drove while banned is behind bars for four months.

Burnley Magistrates heard how car fanatic, Mark Butterworth, 25, told police people kept getting him mixed up with somebody else when officers arrived at his door.

They had earlier seen him driving and knew he was disqualified. They were unable to stop him because of the traffic and later went to his home.

Father-of-two Butterworth, of Cog Lane, Burnley, admitted driving while disqualified and no insurance. Richard Taylor, defending, said a judge had earlier placed Butterworth on a combination order to see if he could get car offending out of his system but it had not worked.

The defendant had few qualifications but was very knowledgeable about cars and was fascinated with them. Butterworth would never be able to drive legally as no insurance company would touch him with his record.

Mr Taylor urged the court to send the defendant, whose girlfriend was expecting a third child, to prison for as short a time as they could in line with their public duty.