MAGISTRATES took some pity on driver George Simister when he appeared in court on Thursday after driving from Ely to Sutton with no insurance. They accepted that Simister, 60, believed his Vauxhall Navara pick-up truck was covered when he produced his ins

MAGISTRATES took some pity on driver George Simister when he appeared in court on Thursday after driving from Ely to Sutton with no insurance.

They accepted that Simister, 60, believed his Vauxhall Navara pick-up truck was covered when he produced his insurance document to the police the day after the incident.

Officers discovered that the policy had, in fact, been cancelled because Simister had not paid the premium.

"This seems to be a genuine mistake," said Ely magistrates chairman, Jane Lewin-Smith, after hearing in a letter from Simister that he had been driving for 30 years.

Simister, of Iretons Way, Chatteris, admitted driving with no insurance on the A142 just before midnight on May 12.

In passing sentence, the magistrates acknowledged that they had taken into account Simister's guilty plea and that a mistake had been made.

He was fined £100, with £35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. His driving licence was endorsed with six points.