A MAN caught speeding on his motorbike at 110mph on the A303 between South Petherton and Cartgate has been allowed to keep driving so he can continue to run his private care home.

Jonathan Mark Lobb was spotted on the roundabout at South Petherton and clocked driving at 40mph over the speed limit.

He told the court it had been “a moment of idiocy” but said his elderly residents relied on him to take them to hospital for appointments and he needed his driving licence for his 100 mile commute to work.

When Lobb, 54, of Ibbiton, Blandford Forum, appeared in the dock before Somerset Magistrates, sitting at Yeovil, they were told that he already had six penalty points on his licence from two previous speeding offences.

However they found that he would suffer “exceptional hardship” if he were to be given a disqualification and told him he could continue driving.

He pleaded guilty to driving a motorbike on the A303 dual carriageway between South Petherton and Cartgate at a speed exceeding 70mph. on September 17 last year.

The court was told that a police officer was on duty by the roundabout at South Petherton at 4.30pm when he saw the defendant riding his motorcycle at speed and using both lanes at times.

When he was following the bike he was travelling at speeds between 110mph and 120mph so he pulled the defendant over at the Cartgate Services and gave him a verbal notice of prosecution.

Putting forward a case of exceptional hardship, Lobb said that he was the owner of a care home and was responsible for 30 elderly residents and 32 members of staff.

He said: “I drive between 50,000 and 60,000 miles a year and live about 100 miles away from the home in Newton Abbot.

“I also undertake a lot of the hospital runs and during my normal day I spend a great deal of time in my car.”

He also said he shared the school run with his wife and it would be difficult for her to take their son to school every day when she was working.

“It was a moment of idiocy and I unequivocally apologise for my actions which were absolutely foolish,” he said.

“I now realise how many people rely on me being able to be at the various places at any one time and I accept I was in the wrong.”

He added that he no longer owned a motorbike after realising he had acted stupidly.

The magistrates told the defendant they accepted his argument for exceptional hardship due to his role in the care home and the effect on other family members.

They fined him £853 with £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge and endorsed his licence with six points bringing him up to the totting level of 12 points.

Although they said he would not be banned from driving they warned him he could not come to court and use the same reasons for exceptional hardship within the next three years.