A TEENAGER who lied to police after being caught speeding in South Lakeland has been spared an immediate jail term.

Nathan Pryal, 19, was flashed by a fixed speed camera as he travelled westbound on the A591 at Ings, near Staveley. He was clocked at 76mph within a 40mph zone in the early hours of October 24.

Carlisle Crown Court heard Pryal swiftly contacted police and stated, falsely, that the number plates on his Peugeot car had been stolen. The teen also later wrongly claimed that the car in a central ticket office photo supplied to him was not his.

Pryal, a young man with no previous convictions, admitted charges of speeding and perverting the course of justice, and was sentenced by Judge Barbara Forrester.

After hearing mitigation, Judge Forrester suspended a 16-week prison sentence for 12 months.

Pryal, of Chandler Way, Lowton, near Warrington, must complete 150 hours' unpaid work and five penalty points were added to his driving licence. The judge told him: "You must now realise this was a really stupid thing to do."