Steve Coogan has escaped a lengthy driving ban by arguing that he is about to film a new Alan Partridge series and the comedy character does not use public transport.

Coogan was caught driving his Porsche at 36mph in a 30mph zone, which merits a three-point penalty. He already had nine points from previous motoring offences and faced an automatic six-month ban under the ‘totting-up’ procedure.

However, magistrates imposed only a two-month ban after hearing that anything longer would force him to cancel a new BBC series in which Partridge does a lot of driving.

Coogan told the court: “I’m producing a travelogue follow-on TV series where I’m basically driving around Britain.

“The whole nature of the series is that it is a travelogue and it’s an artistic thing that he drives and that defines his character.

“You couldn’t put him on a train because that is not who he is - it’s part of his character that he drives.”