Driver's exasperating off-road to hell

DOING the right thing was all a car owner ever intended when taking action in an emergency, but it landed him on the wrong side of the law and then mired him in convoluted delays and consequences.

- By MAISHA FROST

Jack Morton’s wretched experience began two years ago when his untaxed vehicle, correctly stored on his driveway with a SORN (Statutory Off-Road Notification), had to be moved urgently on to the public pavement just outside his home.

This was because of a leak that posed a fire risk to electric cables - the repair took a couple of days. Jack’s mistake, due to the pressures, was to leave the car untaxed and potentially uninsured during that time.

A month later he received a fine from the authority in charge - the DVLA. The law does allow for mitigating circumstances and Jack appealed using a DVLA envelope with the details, but heard nothing.