A DRIVER from West End has escaped being disqualified because a ban would affect the work he does at a boxing club to help keep young people out of trouble.

Gary Dawson, 47, was fined and given three penalty points on his licence for failing to obey a lane-closure signal on the M3 motorway.

Guildford magistrates were told that the points meant he faced an automatic disqualification under totting up rules.

However, they decided that there were mitigating circumstances for not banning Dawson, of Broad Street.

Loss of his licence would have an impact on The Academy Boxing Club at Staines, where he is a coach. It would also cause him exceptional hardship and affect innocent family members.

The traffic offence took place on a smart motorway section of the M3, between the M25 and Lightwater junctions, on 10 March last year.

Dawson was fined £116 and ordered to pay a victims fund surcharge of £34 and costs of £110. The magistrates said they had taken his guilty plea into account when deciding the sentence.