A BANNED driver was caught behind the wheel of a taxi by police, Burnley Magistrates heard.

Former drug addict Mohammed Sadiq, 36, was working part-time as a cab controller and had been asked to fill up the vehicle with petrol. He believed he was insured under the firm's policy and that his ban had run out, the court had been told.

Sadiq, of Every Street, Nelson, admitted driving while disqualified and not having insurance, on February 23.

He was given a three month curfew order, between 10pm and 6am Mondays to Fridays. The bench made no order for costs.

Richard Taylor, defending, said until 2001, Sadiq had had a good job and a good income and had been leading a decent life. His mother had then become ill, he had been made bankrupt and he had started using drugs. He had been depressed simply because he had lost his job.

The defendant thought he had been banned for six months, rather than 12, and had been working part-time in the taxi office. He had taken the taxi to fill up with petrol.

Mr Taylor said Sadiq intended to get back to the position he was in in 2001. He wanted to go back to being a salesman and was due to get his licence back in May.

In the last two years, the defendant had lost his job, been made bankrupt and had been seriously assaulted twice.

The court proceedings had been a "wake up call" for Sadiq, who had been very anxious about the outcome.