DIY SOS host Nick Knowles arrives at court after he admitted driving while using his mobile

DIY SOS host Nick Knowles jokes ‘I can drive home, right?’ as magistrates ban him from getting behind the wheel for six months and fine him almost £1,500 for speeding and using a mobile phone in his Range Rover

  • Former I’m a Celeb star appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court this morning
  • TV presenter sentenced to a driving ban of six months and an almost £1,500 fine
  • He’s already pleaded guilty in writing to driving while using mobile and speeding
  • Knowles, 56, revealed he now puts his phone in the boot of his car before driving

DIY SOS host Nick Knowles is seen leaving Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court today

DIY SOS host Nick Knowles has been banned from driving for six months and fined almost £1,500 after admitting to driving while using a mobile phone and speeding.

The presenter and former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! contestant appeared before Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court this morning after he was caught doing 85mph in a 70mph zone.

He previously admitted exceeding 70mph in his Range Rover on the A417 Brockworth Bypass, while using his mobile phone, on January 28.

After he was sentenced by magistrates, Knowles joked: ‘I can drive home, right?’

However presiding justice Andrew Hill replied coolly: ‘No.’

Knowles then told him: ‘I’m joking.’

Knowles, 56, told magistrates that he had a hands-free kit in his car but was holding his phone due to a ‘dodgy power lead’.

He received six points on his licence for the offence, which resulted in a driving ban as he already had six points on it.

The court heard he was driving at 85mph when he was caught by a police mobile speed camera.

Mr Hill told Knowles, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, the ban would be enforced as it would not cause him ‘exceptional hardship’.

Mr Hill told him: ‘We take into account that you have shown remorse.

‘We will disqualify you from driving today and you will be disqualified from driving for six months.

‘From this moment in time, you are not able to drive any motor vehicle in any public place.’

He was fined £666 for speeding and £666 for using his phone, with a victim surcharge of £66 and prosecution costs of £85.

Speaking after the case, Knowles said: ‘For me, this was a wake-up call and me putting my phone in the boot of my car now stops the temptation.

‘The six-month ban was appropriate because to give anything else would be giving me special privilege.’ 

The presenter and former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! contestant is pictured left and right arriving at court today

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk