Potential six-point penalty for speeding at 97mph reduced to five points after actor wrote to magistrates court

The actor and comedian Steve Coogan has avoided a six-month driving ban after being caught speeding at 97mph, arguing it would prevent him from filming a new series of his TV show The Trip.

Coogan, 59, was captured travelling over the 70mph speed limit in a Range Rover on the M6 near Telford in Shropshire on 29 July last year.