TWO motorcyclists travelling at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour on the A14 have avoided driving bans.

Bus driver Steven Heslop, from Bury St Edmunds, was caught riding his motorbike at 118 miles per hour on the west bound carriageway of the A14, which has a maximum speed of 70, near Higham on August 7.

At Sudbury magistrates yesterday Heslop, 39, of Wollaston Close, avoided disqualification from driving but was fined �275 and given six points on his licence.

The court heard that the single father, with two children from two different partners, would lose his job as a bus driver if he was banned.

Magistrate Sandy Carmichael was told that the loss of his licence would also leave him unable to travel the 15 miles to his one-year-old son’s home and would affect his ability to pay child maintenance for his son and 14-year-old daughter.

The court heard that Heslop, who pleaded guilty to the offence, also sacrificed a holiday he was about to go on after he was caught speeding.

A week earlier, on August 1, Lee Cook, 35, from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, was caught travelling at 110 on the the same road near Newmarket, towards Bury St Edmunds.

The court heard that a ban would prevent Cook, who pleaded guilty, from travelling to Thetford to see his 57-year-old mother who had recently been diagnosed with womb cancer.

Despite travelling 40 miles per hour above the A14 speed limit Mr Carmichael said he would not disqualify Cook due to his circumstances but issued six penalty points and fines totalling �450.