A CABBIE caught driving at 105mph on the M65 has been allowed to keep his taxi permit by Pendle Council licensing chiefs.

Father-of-three Andrew Bateman escaped a driving ban after he appeared before Pennine magistrates last November after being convicted of speeding.

Now he has been given a stern telling-off by Pendle Council's licensing section, but allowed to keep his taxi badge.

A Pendle Council spokesman said: "Mr Bateman was warned about his future conduct but he was allowed to keep his licence."

Bateman, 38, of Charles Street, Nelson, already had nine points on his licence when he appeared for sentence at the Burnley court.

But his lawyer David Lawson argued that any driving ban would be an "exceptional hardship" on his client, who had been a taxi driver for 10 years.

One of his children suffered from a severe form of attention deficit disorder and he needed to take him to school before he went to work, Mr Lawson told JPs.

Bateman was given six points on his driving licence, and conditonally discharged for 12 months, but given no driving disqualification.

The court was told he also had council tax debts of £2,000 - for which he faced committal to prison - and faced losing his job if his licence was taken away.

The court heard that he had worked for Nelson-based City Centre Taxis, regularly doing school-run jobs, and was well known with customers, who often asked for him.

City Centre boss Mohammed Sayeed said Bateman was "very nice with children" and that he would lose a "good driver" if his licence was taken away.