FORMER Ipswich Town star Titus Bramble has been banned from driving for using his mobile phone while at the wheel.

FORMER Ipswich Town star Titus Bramble has been banned from driving for using his mobile phone while at the wheel.

The Wigan centreback failed to turn up to be handed the six-month ban and �1,000 fine at Manchester Magistrates' Court.

Bramble, 27, who was born and raised in Ipswich, was caught out while driving his high-powered Range Rover with personalised number plates on October 13 last year.

At an earlier hearing, magistrates were told Pc Nigel Poole tracked Bramble for half a mile in Manchester city centre.

He pulled up alongside Bramble at a set of traffic lights and tapped on his window, and the footballer was still on the phone when he turned to face him.

The sentencing was adjourned several times because Bramble continually failed to turn up. His solicitor claimed he did not know about the hearings because he does not open the mail delivered to his Wilmslow home.

Bramble was also absent when he was found guilty in May, when the magistrate dismissed his defence that he was scratching his ear and that his windows are heavily tinted so the officer must have been mistaken.

He already had 11 points on his licence and received a further three for this offence, taking him over the maximum allowed.

The footballer, who is thought to be earning �1.5 million a year, will also have to pay �165 in costs.

He was banned for seven weeks in 2003 when he was clocked driving a BMW X5 at 102mph on the A14 in Sproughton.