THE director of a company that has just opened an amusement arcade in Swindon has this week been banned from driving by Swindon magistrates after driving at more than 100mph on the A419.

Michael Shipley, 52, of Drayton Bassett, near Tamworth, admitted driving his Mercedes S350 at 102mph on the southbound carriageway of the A419 at 1.38pm on April 21 this year.

Representing Shipley, John Smitheman, told the magistrates that his client already had six penalty points on his licence from two previous speeding offences in 30mph and 50mph zones.

As a director of the family-run amusement arcade business it was Shipley’s job to visit the arcades all over the country, Mr Smitheman said, adding that this entailed driving around 25,000 to 30,000 miles every year and his driving licence was, therefore, vital.

He had been on his way to visit the company’s latest arcade in Swindon when stopped by police.

At the time Shipley was stopped it was lunchtime, the road was very quiet and Shipley had co-operated fully with the police after being stopped, Mr Smitheman said.

He reminded magistrates that they could look at this individual case and disqualifying Shipley from driving for a short time, rather than endorsing his licence with six points, in which case he would be a totter and automatically disqualified for six months.

Chairman of the bench Diana Crockett said they had looked at the individual case and in view of his previous speeding record disqualified Shipley from driving for 30 days, fined him £750 and ordered him to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £75.