A SILSDEN woman who argued she knew nothing about her driving ban until stopped by police escaped punishment after magistrates accepted proceedings had taken place without her knowledge.

Skipton magistrates accepted Louisa Sutcliffe's explanation that the first she knew of her six month ban under the totting up procedure for twice failing to provide driver details was when she was stopped in Skipton on March 6.

Sutcliffe, 54, of Kirkgate, told Skipton Magistrates' Court that court notices must have been sent to a former address in Bingley and not forwarded after she had moved to Leicester and then back to Silsden.

She had received a letter from the courts service informing her of a £855 fine imposed in her absence by Leeds Magistrates, but that there had been no mention of a ban.

She told the court she had no idea what it had been about and had made an appointment to make a statutory declaration to have her case re-opened at the Leeds court, a week after she was stopped in Skipton.

The court heard on Monday that Sutcliffe had been stopped by police in Keighley Road on March 6 after officers had received a radio message that the black BMW she was driving had been stolen.

Further checks revealed she was driving while disqualified and without insurance, because the ban had made it un valid. A rear tyre of the car was also devoid of tread and down to the cord.

Sutcliffe admitted driving while disqualified, without insurance and with a defective tyre, but pleaded special reasons against having her licence endorsed.

A former nurse, who had been on her way home from a cleaning job when she was stopped, Sutcliffe had failed to notify the DVLA of latest changes of address because she was suffering from a depressive illness following the breakdown of a relationship.

In mitigation, Keith Blackwell said she had genuinely been ignorant of the proceedings until told by the police.

Magistrates accepted there were special reasons, but for driving with a defective tyre, she was fined £35 and her licence endorsed with three penalty points. She will also have to pay prosecution costs of £85 and surcharge of £20.