A speeding driver has kept his licence after a court heard he needed it to take his cancer-suffering father to hospital - having been told by 999 call handlers it would be quicker than waiting for an ambulance.

Mark Sheridan, 49, of Church Lane, Sheringham, pleaded guilty to a speeding offence when he appeared in Norwich Magistrates' Court on Monday.

He was caught exceeding the speed limit in his Land Rover on the A140 at Roughton on March 29 last year, where he was travelling at 44mph on a 30mph stretch of road.

Danielle O'Donovan, mitigating for Mr Sheridan, told the court he already had nine points on his licence and if he were to be disqualified from driving it would cause him and his family exceptional hardship.

She said Mr Sheridan's father was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2017 and had undergone treatment at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH).

Ms O'Donovan told the court of an occasion where Mr Sheridan's father suffered a serious infection which required medical intervention and the family were told by 999 it would be quicker to get to hospital by car than waiting for an ambulance.

Mr Sheridan told magistrates that his sister lived next door to his father but had two children of her own and would not be able to drive their father to hospital 'at the drop of a hat'.

Chairman of the bench Jim Agnew allowed Mr Sheridan to continue driving but added three points to his licence.

'You are driving on 12 points and you know the consequences of that, you can't use the argument you used today again,' he said.

Mr Sheridan was fined £533 and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £53 and costs of £100.