A man who drove to Wales for a HAIRCUT before being caught speeding at 122mph on the M5 in Somerset has been disqualified from driving.

Robert James White has lost his license for 32 months, and fined, after he admitted charges of driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, and of speeding.

The 30-year-old was stopped by police as he made his way south on the M5 on March 17 last year - during the national lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He was travelling back from Wales after getting a haircut, the court was told.

White, from Taunton, admitted the charges at a previous hearing and was sentenced at Taunton Deane Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (December 2).

In addition to the disqualification, he was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

At the time of the incident, he was given a fixed penalty notice for the breach of Covid regulations.

PC Owen Davies, of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “White’s driving on that day was reckless in the extreme. Not only was he driving at 122mph in a 70mph zone, but he was also under the influence of drugs at the time.

"If he’d been involved in a collision while driving at that speed, it would have resulted in catastrophic consequences.

“At the time of the offence, a second national lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 was in place in England, with people urged to stay at home – all this makes his actions even more reprehensible.”