A WELL-KNOWN takeaway owner, who never held a driving licence, was involved in a collision with a cyclist while illegally driving an ice-cream van.

Mohammed Ramzan pleaded guilty to eight different motoring offences, taking place on two separate occasions, during a hearing at Furness and District Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old, of Douglas Street, Walney, never passed his test or held a full driving licence, had had his provisional revoked and was already disqualified, the court heard.

Mr Lee Dacre, prosecuting, told the court the first string of offences took place on February 10. The defendant was spotted by officers in an unmarked police car on the A590 near Levens.

They saw him driving while on his mobile and filmed him on a phone for 16 miles, during which time he was said to have driven extremely close to them.

After taking the vehicle’s registration the police contact the BMW’s owner, who later turned out to be Ramzan’s girlfriend. She said she had not given him permission to take the car.

Ramzan admitted driving without due care and attention, taking a vehicle without consent, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

On May 4, Mr Dacre continued, Ramzan was driving an ice-cream van in Ulverston when he collided with a cyclist.

Mr Dacre said: “He wasn’t at fault but the cyclist suffered serious injuries.”

Ramzan admitted driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

Miss Hannah Youren, defending, told the court the first of the two driving incidents happened two weeks after Ramzan’s father passed away, when his sister called with concerns about his mother’s health.

He had been trying to drive back to his family's home in Bolton while on the phone to his family, she said, and had not realised the officers were members of the constabulary when he became aggravated by them “laughing and filming him”.

In relation to the second incident, Miss Youren said, the defendant had bought the ice-cream van as a business prospect and had a contract at Ulverston market twice a week.

When the person who usually drives the van said they could not take it that day, she added, he did not want to lose business so chose to drive it himself.

She said: “He accepts it was a very silly thing to do on both occasions.”

A final charge, dated to February 14, saw Ramzan admit withholding information to obtain insurance after failing to disclose that he only had a provisional licence, that it had been revoked, that he never passed a driving test and that he had been disqualified. He also claimed to have held a full licence for 14 years.

Ramzan was fined £100 each for both insurance charges and the offence of driving without due care and attention.

For the taking without consent and the false representation, he was ordered to do 80 hours' unpaid work.

He was given no further punishments but was disqualified for another 15 months and ordered to pay £85 court costs plus an £85 victim surcharge.