A PRIVATE hire driver plied for trade in a city centre despite not having the licence to do so.

Kamran Asghar, 42, of Fagley Road in Bradford, pleaded guilty to two charges of driving a carriage/stand/plying for hire when the carriage was not licensed as a public hackney carriage and using a motor vehicle on a road or public place without third party insurance.

This was at Kirklees Magistrates' Court last Tuesday.

Asghar was caught driving a black Toyota Auris with a private hire number plate on Duncan Street, in Leeds on February 12 this year and standing or plying for hire despite not having a public hackney carriage licence, which is needed to pick up customers in that area.

He was also using his vehicle on the same day without being insured, along Duncan Street and other public roads between that and the Premier Inn Hotel in Drighlington.

The 42-year-old was handed six penalty points on his driving licence for the no insurance offence and ordered to pay £1,303 in total.

This included a £120 fine, a surcharge of £48 to fund victim services and £1,135 in costs.

Asghar received a 12-month conditional discharge for the other two offences.