Nick Knowles: BBC host banned from driving for speeding while on phone, before asking judge if he can drive home

'I can drive home, right?' presenter jokes in court

TV presenter Nick Knowles has been banned from driving for six months after he was caught speeding while on his phone.

The DIY SOS host was also fined more than £1,300 at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court.

The former I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! contestant told judges that he had not used the hands-free kit inside his car because of a “dodgy power lead”.

The court heard that the 56-year-old was driving at 85mph in his Range Rover when he was caught by a police mobile speed camera on the A417 Brockworth bypass.

As he already had six points on his licence, the six points added after this offence took him to the 12 point limit required for a ban.

Presiding justice Andrew Hill told Knowles, of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, that he would insist on enforcing the ban as it would not cause him “exceptional hardship”.

Mr Hill told him: “We take into account that you have shown remorse. We will disqualify you from driving today and you will be disqualified from driving for six months. From this moment in time, you are not able to drive any motor vehicle in any public place.”

Knowles asked: “I can drive home, right?”

Mr Hill replied: “No.”

Knowles then told him: “I’m joking.”

He was also fined £666 for speeding and £666 for using his phone, with a victim surcharge of £66 and prosecution costs of £85.

Speaking after the case, Knowles said: “For me, this was a wake-up call and me putting my phone in the boot of my car now stops the temptation. The six-month ban was appropriate because to give anything else would be giving me special privilege.”

Additional reporting by Press Association