A father-of-seven who had his licence stripped away was spotted behind the wheel of his sister’s works van twice by the same police officer.

Despite not being legally allowed to drive, Gary Huckstepp, from Canterbury, was seen driving her Ford Transit in Dover and again in Ashford a few weeks later.

The DVLA had revoked the 48-year-old’s licence after he previously failed to attend a medical test after being disqualified from driving.

A court heard an officer recognised the van Huckstepp was driving on the A20 in Dover on March 2 and pulled him over.

But undeterred, the landscape gardener was back on the road when the same officer saw him again on March 23 driving on the A28 in Ashford.

Huckstepp, of Ashford Road, Godmersham, was later charged with two counts of driving a vehicle after revocation of his licence and two counts of driving without insurance.

He pleaded guilty to all offences when he appeared in the dock at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on September 27.

Elizabeth Evans prosecuting said: “The officer recognised the vehicle driven by him and decided to stop him as when he checked the vehicle was only insured for a female.

“He had no licence or insurance.

“Then on March 23 the same officer saw him driving again in the Ford Transit van and again he was stopped and had no licence or insurance.

“He has 13 previous convictions including driving without insurance and has previously been disqualified for 36 months.”

Donna Wilde, mitigating, told the court her client was banned from driving in 2018.

She explained he had been required to take an extended medical test with the DVLA when the ban expired, but had been unable to attend the course after becoming unwell.

She also said Huckstepp worked as a landscape gardener for his sister’s company and earns £450 a week.

She added: “He tells me the distance he drove (on the two occasions) was less than three miles.

“He’s pleaded guilty this morning (at the first opportunity) and made full admissions to police.

“He was ill (when the test should have been done) and then he forgot to go for the medical and the DVLA fined him £800 and he’s not been in a position to do it.

“He’s not got his licence back, it was revoked for medical reasons, that's what it says on his licence, he didn’t attend the medical, so it was revoked.”

Magistrates decided they would deal with all four offences by way of a financial penalty.

They fined Huckstepp £450 for the two no insurance offences but he received no separate financial penalty for the two no licence offences.

Hiis licence was hit with 12 points which meant he was disqualified from driving for six months.

Drivers who amasses a dozen points or more are automatically disqualified from driving for at least half a year.

Huckstepp was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £360 as well as £85 court costs.

He was ordered to pay what he owes at a rate of £150 a month.