A DRINK driver appeared in court to plead with magistrates to remove his driving ban.

Stephen Heslop, who was previously jailed for the offence, asked for his 60 month ban to be lifted.

The court heard Heslop had been jailed for drink driving in 2017 and handed the ban.

He was also convicted of driving while disqualified.

South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court denied the application, saying he had shown ‘blatant disregard’ for the law and the court.

Urging the magistrates to lift the ban, he said he needed his licence so he could drive 78 miles from his home in Mafeking Terrace in Sacriston, County Durham, to his construction job in Redcar.

Heslop said: “Currently I’m working in Redcar. It’s quite a distance from County Durham.

“We were van sharing until Covid started.

“My job is very important to me. I rely on it to bring in income to my household.”

Heslop said he had been receiving lifts to work from his partner but would now have to get the bus due to her taking on a new job.

He said he would have to set off at 4.30am to arrive at work by bus for 7am.

Heslop was given a suspended sentence and a further 12-month ban for driving while disqualified in 2019.

He said he had been caught while testing a car he fixed for his daughter.

“It was just stupid,” he said.

Magistrates considered his attempt to have the ban lifted and denied it, hearing Heslop had been convicted of drink driving four times since 1998.

Chair of the bench of magistrates Gillian Sutton said: “It’s very rare for someone to be convicted of drink driving on four occasions.

“Also since you were last disqualified there has been a blatant disregard for the law and we refuse the application.”

A four-year ban was imposed by South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court on June 23 2017.

The court heard Heslop had been more than twice over the legal limit for alcohol when he collided with a stationary after driving down Beast Banks and onto New Road in Kendal.