A man has been hit with an £826 court bill after admitting speeding on the A47.

David Lambert, 51, of Orwell Drive, Lowestoft, pleaded guilty to a speeding offence when he appeared in Norwich Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Prosecutor Waseem Raja said Lambert exceeded the 50 mph speed limit on the A47 Gorleston relief road after he was caught driving his Mercedes at 81 mph at just before midday on November 12 last year.

Lambert, who represented himself in court, told magistrates he has been driving on the relief road for many years and thought it was a normal dual carriageway.

He apologised for the offence and stated he would suffer exceptional hardship if he were to lose his licence, as he works in the demolition industry removing asbestos and drove a company van to carry tools.

Chairman of the bench Gillian Philpot fined Lambert £660 for the offence and ordered him to pay £66 victim surcharge and £100 court costs, to which Lambert responded by audibly muttering "Christ".

He also had six penalty points added to his driving licence.

"It's extremely fast in an area that's 50 mph and a residential road," Ms Philpot told Lambert.

She said the speed limit was there mainly to reduce noise for people who lived on that road.

"You have to be very careful with how you drive in future," she added.