A GARAGE owner who issued fraudulent MoT certificates without properly testing vehicles has been told he has left it too late to try and clear his name.

Noor Hussain was caught on undercover cameras passing vehicles without carrying out proper checks on them at his test centre in Accrington.

The 52-year-old, of Greaves Street, Harwood, Blackburn, was jailed for six months, and ordered to pay £60,000 prosecution costs, at Preston Crown Court in November 2010. He was previously found guilty of eight counts of using test certificates with intent to deceive.

Hussain challenged his convictions at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, arguing they were ‘unsafe’, and also appealed against his costs order. But, rejecting both his bid to clear his name and the costs order challenge, top judges said he had left it ‘far too late’ and his appeal was ‘without merit’ in any case.

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency grew suspicious after 2,604 MoTs were carried out within four months without a single failure.