A disqualified driver who was due to start a new job “took a risk” and used a friend’s car to transport his joinery tools to work.

Blackburn magistrates heard the car flagged up on the police computer as uninsured and when he was stopped Jacek Lisowski admitted he was banned.

Lisowski, 43, of Lynwood Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance. He was made subject to a community order for 12 months with 10 days’ Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 60 hours’ unpaid work. He was banned for eight months and ordered to pay £114 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

The court heard the car belonged to a friend of the defendant’s who had returned to Poland and asked Lisowski to sell it on his behalf. He had a lot of heavy tools to take to his new job and made the decision to take a risk.

Aftab Bakhat, defending, said his client had been refreshingly honest both at the time of his arrest and during the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

“He knows he shouldn’t have driven and it is a lesson he will take forward,” said Mr Bakhat.