A BANNED driver who twice got behind the wheel has escaped jail -- but was told by magistrates he had come very close to it.

Burnley Magistrates heard Mark James Garstang, 27, did not know he had been ordered off the road the first time he was caught.

But Garstang was told by the justices he had driven in the full knowledge he was disqualified the second time.

The defendant, of Queen Street, Burnley, admitted allegations of driving while disqualified. He was given 240 hours community punishment and banned for 12 months, with £55 costs.

Elizabeth Reed, prosecuting, said police followed Garstang and when they reached his vehicle it had been abandoned. He ran off up a back street. Garstang committed the second offence while on bail for the first.

Trevor Grice, defending, said the second offence involved a short journey. Garstang, he said, suffered from depression and panic attacks and was not really a man of criminal propensity. He worked seven days a week.