A Suffolk cab driver has been hit with five points on his licence after crashing his taxi, while carrying two passengers, outside a primary school.

Haydar Bayir was looking at the passengers in his rear view mirror when the Ford Tourneo he was driving left the road and collided with a wooden post in Stanton, near Bury St Edmunds.

The crash happened at about 4.10pm on November 7, on the traffic calming section of Upthorpe Road, near Stanton Community Primary School.

Bayir, 46, of Maltings Way, Bury St Edmunds, had admitted careless driving at an earlier court hearing, but returned to face magistrates in Ipswich last Friday and admit failing to report the accident within 24 hours.

Both passengers sustained minor whiplash injuries as a result of the collision, the court heard.

Prosecutor Alex Morrison said the road surface was dry, and that driving conditions were clear at the time of the crash.

Bayir, a cabbie of 11 years, with a previously clean licence, admitted being distracted by looking at the male and female passenger in his rear view mirror.

“The sat-nav was telling me I’d reached my destination,” he said.

“I was looking in the mirror, asking where they would like to be dropped off.

“I asked if there was a house number.

“I was expecting an answer from them, but they couldn’t decide.

“There was a van in front of me and I didn’t see the post.”

Bayir said he got out of the vehicle and asked the passengers if they were okay, before pulling the car over to the side of the road.

“I asked if they wanted me to call another taxi or an ambulance,” he added.

“The male said no, and that he was sorry the accident had happened. Then they left.”

When the sibling passengers’ father arrived shortly afterwards, Bayir handed over a business card and later received a phone call from police.

“I told them I needed to get the car sorted but would report to the station.

“When the car was towed, I went home and got another call, so I told them I’d come to the station.

“They said no; they’d come to me. Then they arrived.”

Magistrates took into account Bayir’s mitigation, handing him five penalty points and a £233 fine.