Nick Knowles banned for six months after using phone behind wheel at 85mph

Nick Knowles outside Cheltenham Magistrates' Court. Picture: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

The DIY SOS host, 56, was also ordered to pay nearly £1,500 in fines and costs today for using the device at the wheel of his Range Rover.

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He was driving at 85mph in a 70mph speed limit at the time of the offence on the A417 in Gloucester on January 28.

Knowles pleaded guilty to two charges via post and appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates Court to be sentenced.

He was caught by a camera which can see what drivers are doing from about a kilometre away.

Knowles, of Coates, Cirencester, was fined £666 for using a handheld device while driving and £666 for speeding.

He must also pay a victim surcharge of £66 and prosecution costs of £85, taking his total bill to £1,483.

Speaking after the hearing, the star said he "wholeheartedly" accepted the punishment and vowed to change his behaviour.

He said: "I received a six-month ban which is appropriate given what I was doing.

"I used my mobile phone and I shouldn't have used my mobile phone and it has made me rethink having the phone even in the car so now I stick it in the boot when I do long distances - which I won't be doing for a while because I've been banned for six months.

"If that's the charge and I was guilty of it I can't complain about it.

"I'll take it on the chin and actually modify my behaviour and hopefully so will other people - they'll take this as a warning and modify their behaviour too.

"It's astounding when you start looking in cars how many people are using their mobile phones and it's dangerous - and I don't want to be that person.

"I'm not surprised at the sentence and accept it wholeheartedly."

Presiding justice Andrew Hill told Knowles the ban would be enforced as it would not cause him "exceptional hardship".

Knowles asked: "I can drive home, right?" to which Mr Hill replied: "No."

The presenter responded: "I'm joking."

He gave his name as Nicholas Simon Augustine Knowles.

Knowles, who represented himself in court, was spotted by police on the A417 Brockworth Bypass at its junction with junction 11A of the M5.

He said he was using a hands-free kit but had a dodgy power cable and had to hold his mobile phone.

Martin Surl, Gloucestershire's police and crime commissioner, sat in the public gallery.

He told Knowles during a break in proceedings: "Thank you very much for the attitude you've taken - doing the responsible thing and not fighting it."