A MAKE-UP artist has been allowed to keep her driving licence after she told magistrates a ban would ruin many weddings.

Sarah Elizabeth Plews, 33, faced a minimum six-month driving disqualification under the totting up procedure after she failed to tell police who was driving her Mercedes when it was allegedly speeding on the A19 near Barlby.

But she argued that losing her driving licence would cause her “exceptional hardship.”

The 33-year-old from Greenfield Drive, Barlby, was found guilty of failure to tell police who was driving her car at the time of an alleged motoring offence. She had denied the offence.

She was given six penalty points, but not disqualified, and was ordered to pay a total of £740 consisting of a £400 fine, a £40 statutory surcharge and £300 prosecution costs.

Plews told Scarborough Magistrates Court she was a wedding makeup artist doing bridal makeup at one or two weddings a week with bookings up to two years in advance.

She had to carry large amounts of equipment and sometimes furniture to wedding locations which she couldn’t take on public transport.

“The defendant’s clients rely upon them to complete this work, they chose their makeup artist very carefully and cannot easily be passed to another provider”, the court was told.

She also said a driving ban would mean she couldn’t fund her salon.