Taxi driver still has no driving licence after being caught speeding on A5117 when Highways Agency speed limit was unlawful.

Feb 6 2009 by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Chester Chronicle

Taxi driver still has no driving licence after being caught speeding on A5117 when Highways Agency speed limit was unlawful.

A CABBIE banned from driving after being caught by an illegal speed camera still has no licence – seven weeks after highways officials realised the error.

The Highways Agency cut the speed limit on the A5117 from 70mph to 40mph for roadworks to take place safely from April 8 to December 17 last year.

Graham Hardy, of Wervin Caravan Park, was one of 4,128 drivers prosecuted for exceeding 40mph – then told the limit was unlawful because nobody had bothered to renew the legal order enforcing the measure.

Mr Hardy went to court on December 9 – a week before the blunder was discovered – and was banned when the three points he was handed for driving at 49mph took him to 12 on the totting up system.

He said: “I was in the process of appealing when this came out in the Press on December 23. Since then I’ve hit a brick wall trying to get my licence back.

“I got a letter from the courts on January 13 saying the conviction was overturned and I was entitled to reappeal to the DVLA for my driving licence. It said the court would notify the DVLA.

“But the DVLA hasn’t heard a single thing from the courts.”

He added: “The temporary speed camera was there to protect the workforce but I went through at 12.55am. I think I was the only car on the road and there were no workers.

“It beggars belief in today’s world where we can communicate easily verbally or by email. It just takes an email to the DVLA.”

As well as claiming back the £300 he was fined, Mr Hardy says he is considering legal action to claim loss of earnings.

“Here I am still living on £30 a week in job seekers allowance. I’m getting desperate living on next to nothing.