A MAN with 25 convictions for driving while disqualified has lost a fight to get his five-year ban lifted early. Neil Martin was jailed for six months and disqualified from driving for 60 months back in May 2004 – and despite having been caught driving du

A MAN with 25 convictions for driving while disqualified has lost a fight to get his five-year ban lifted early.

Neil Martin was jailed for six months and disqualified from driving for 60 months back in May 2004 - and despite having been caught driving during that time, he wanted Ely magistrates to allow him back on the road.

The Chief Constable opposed his application. "His record shows no signs of improvement, he is a persistent offender," the court heard from prosecutor Delia Matthews.

Fifty-two-year-old Martin, who used to live in Eastern Avenue in Soham but now lives in Swaffham Bulbeck, said he needed his driving licence so he could take up a job at a scrap yard in Bottisham.

"For the past two years I have been on a drug rehabilitation programme," he told the court. "I have the chance of a job, it is three miles away, I know I could bike, but transport is precarious, it takes me two hours to get to Soham to visit my mum."

Refusing the application, presiding magistrate Hamish Ross told Martin: "We have taken into consideration your previous convictions for driving when disqualified, and since the ban was imposed, you have been caught again.

"You have flagrantly flouted the law, and we shall certainly refuse your application to restore your licence.