A YOUNG motorist caught driving a vehicle without insurance has been hit with a court bill of £1,744.

Luke Alan Jarvis, 22, of Joseph Pound, Rooksbridge, was found guilty of the offence in his absence when the case was heard at Taunton Magistrates' Court.

The court was told he was stopped by police in Hallen, South Gloucestershire, on November 24 last year.

Jarvis has previously pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Magistrate fined him £600 and ordered him to pay a £344 victim surcharge, along with a contribution of £600 towards the Crown Prosecution Service costs.

His driving licence was endorsed with six points.

He was fined a further £200 for using a vehicle on the same date when the two front wheels were protruding beyond the vehicle's wheel arches, "causing a risk to other road users coming into contact with a spinning wheel and a rear bumper which was partially attached using a cable tie".

Jarvis had pleaded guilty to that offence.