A TRAIN company manager avoided a second driving ban after a court heard relying on public transport would cause him too much of a hardship.

Philip Rutter-Collins admitted driving while disqualified at Colchester Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The 43-year-old, a project manager for Greater Anglia, originally lost his licence for drink driving.

Before his disqualification was complete he was stopped by police in Brightlingsea because his car had a broken rear light.

Officers carried out a check and found he was disqualified from the road.

Rutter-Collins told police he thought his ban was for 12 months and already over.

Henny Tatum, prosecuting, told the court he was stopped on Church Road, Brightlingsea in a blue Ford Fiesta at 4.40pm on January 5, 2017.

Officers carried out various checks and identified he was disqualified for 14 months on January 5, 2016, exactly a year before.

She said: "On that occasion he was offered a drink driving rehabilitation course which would have resulted in a 14 week reduction.

"He did not complete the course so he was still banned until March 4.

Mr Karu, mitigating, said: "This was not a deliberate breach.

"He honestly believed his ban was 12 months. It was a foolish mistake."

Mr Karu told the court the ban had caused hardship for married father-of-two, of Dean Street, Brightlingsea.

He said: "It has added three-and-a-half hours to his commute."

Mr Karu told the court Rutter-Collins, who works at London Liverpool Street, was having to rely on buses and longer train journeys having not been able to drive.

Judge Susan Holdham, sceptically, said: "It was remarkable bad luck the first time he chose to drive he was caught."

However she did not ban him again instead imposing six penalty points for driving while disqualified which will go onto his licence when his drink driving ban ends in March.

He was given a community order with 160 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £170 in costs and charges.

Rutter-Collins was originally caught drink driving on Station Road, Alresford on December 19, 2015 in his Saab.

He tested at 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35.