A private hire driver who has twice been fined for speeding has been warned over his future behaviour but told he can continue working.

Charles McKenna was granted a three-year renewal by Glasgow’s licensing committee despite a complaint from Police Scotland.

An officer told councillors how the driver had been seen doing 53mph in a 30mph zone in Glasgow in 2019 before being caught again in England in 2020.

Mr McKenna was also warned over failing to follow the conditions of his licence as he didn’t hand it back to the council when he stopped working as a private hire driver for six months.

The Police Scotland representative told councillors that three points, given to Mr McKenna after the 2019 incident, had now been removed from his licence, but the conviction remains live.

He also said the driver had been fined £660 and given six penalty points following the second offence, which occurred in North Yorkshire in December 2020. Mr McKenna had also failed to identify the driver to police.

Mr McKenna said he couldn’t remember the first incident but said he had been acting as a private hire driver at the time. “I can’t make any excuse for speeding at any point,” he added.

The driver said the second incident happened when he had “stopped taxiing for a while and I was doing another job and I was taking the van back to England.”

He added: “As far as not supplying information, the reason for that was it happened just before Christmas. The stress of being between jobs, I basically forgot about it. I thought I would get another letter at some point but I never got that.”

Cllr Alex Wilson, the licensing committee chairman, said: “You do realise, if you read the terms and conditions of your licence, that if you don’t use that licence for three months, you have to hand it back.

“These licences are precious out there, we are desperate for drivers. We need people to be using their licence, but you decided not to use it for six months.”

Mr McKenna also admitted failing to tell the council’s licensing section he had received penalty points. “I didn’t know I had to. I’ve read most of the terms of my licence but not remembered to do that,” he said.

Cllr Wilson responded: “Go back and read them again if you’re lucky to get your renewal today.”