Talent judge Morgan fails to impress officers after speeding rap

BRITAIN'S Got Talent judge Piers Morgan said he deserved the "red buzzer" from the courts after being clocked speeding following a school show.

A speed camera caught the 45-year-old driving at 51mph in a 30mph zone in Preston Road, Brighton, East Sussex, on 13 November last year, Sussex Police said.

He was convicted at Brighton Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty by post.

Morgan, who was listed under his full name, Piers Pughe- Morgan, was fined 666, had six points added to his licence and was told to pay 58 costs, a court official said.

He exceeded the speed limit after judging a charity talent contest at the independent girls' school Roedean in Brighton, alongside the newsreader Katie Derham.

Yesterday he made light of the case, saying his driving skills would not have got him "past the first round".

He said in a statement: "I was judging a charity show at Roedean School called Roedean's Got Talent.

"Unfortunately, my driving skills afterwards wouldn't have got me past the first round and I thoroughly deserve a red buzzer from the courts."

The offence happened less than 20 miles from Newick, the East Sussex village where Morgan grew up and still maintains close links.

A police spokesman said: "The offence was detected by a fixed speed camera, and the vehicle he was driving was doing 51mph in a 30mph zone."

It emerged this week that Morgan is in talks to make a chatshow in the United States. Morgan, who has interviewed the likes of Simon Cowell and Gordon Brown on his ITV1 show Life Stories, is tipped as the next Barbara Walters – one of the most famous interviewers in the US.