A PUB landlord has been banned from the roads after he was caught speeding at more than 100mph on the A12.

Russell Claydon

A PUB landlord has been banned from the roads after he was caught speeding at more than 100mph on the A12.

Shaun Mellor, who runs the Old Chequers public house in Friston, said he felt the need to fly down the A12 at 122mph because he was stressed - but then revealed he was on his way to the gym.

The landlord of the Aldeburgh Road pub turned up to yesterday's hearing at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich already with points stamped on his licence, although he disputed there was 18.

The 31-year-old, who lives above the pub, pleaded guilty to breaking the speed limit on the A12 at Wickham Market on August 4 last year.

Sandra Dyer, prosecuting, said an officer had spotted him driving at an excessive speed on the southbound carriageway. They used a laser gun to record his Toyota Corolla travelling at 122mph.

The court heard no-one else was in the car with him at the time and the road had been clear.

Chairman of the bench Ken Turner disqualified him from driving for six months, fined him �350 and ordered him to also pay �46 for court costs and a �15 victim surcharge.

“We have taken into account your guilty plea but 122mph on any A road or motorway is a ridiculous speed,” he said.

When asked what he had to say for himself, Mellor said he had been under a lot of stress due to the financial situation at his pub. He said he had been seeing bailiffs before he left off for the gym to “release some steam”.

He told the bench: “I am running a pub at the minute that is falling to pieces around my ears. It is just a miracle it is still open now. That is no excuse - I was just under a lot of stress and forgot myself a bit.”

Mellor laid bare the extent of problems the pub had fallen into saying financial experts had been brought into help after they incurred �100,000 worth of debt over the last three months alone.

He said he had now cancelled his gym membership as he could no longer afford it and the pub would probably go under as a result of him not being able to drive.