AN UNEMPLOYED football coach handed in a forged insurance certificate after being give a notice to produce them by a police officer.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Paul Eric Thompson later admitted buying the dodgy document "off a man in a pub" because he needed it to tax his car.

Thompson, 29, of Edmund Street, Darwen, pleaded guilty to using a car without insurance and using a certificate of insurance with intent to deceive. He was made subject to a three month curfew order which will be effective three nights a week. He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Elizabeth Parker, defending, said Thompson had bought the certificate off "the proverbial man in a pub" and had been fully aware of what he was doing.

"He accepts that what he did was extremely foolish," said Mrs Parker.