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TV chef Tom Kerridge escapes driving ban thanks to upcoming US road trip show

Tom Kerridge (Credit: PA)
Tom Kerridge (Credit: PA)

Michelin-starred TV cook Tom Kerridge avoided a potential driving ban, thanks to his involvement in an upcoming show which will see him embarking on a US road trip.

According to The Sun, Kerridge was in court over a speeding ticket, clocked up in his £130,000 Porsche Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo.

He was caught doing 47mph in a 40mph zone on the M4 in West London, and reportedly has 12 points from previous speeding offences dating back to 2016.

In his defence, Kerridge’s lawyers said that a driving ban would cause a planned TV show being filmed in the US later this year to be cancelled, and that he also needs to be able to drive to take his son to weekend football practice.

It was also argued that he needs to be able to drive to oversee his restaurants, which include Michelin-starred pubs in Buckinghamshire.

“My days are normally 18-hour days. Work-life balance is difficult to strike,” he reportedly told magistrates.

Of the forthcoming series, his lawyer Benjamin Waidhofer said at Lavender Hill Magistrates Court: “He has to be the driver. The effect of a disqualification would not be to push back that filming, it would practically be to destroy it.

“There are deadlines and if it’s not done in that time, it can’t be done.”

Kerridge was handed a £500 fine for speeding, along with a £50 victim surcharge and £65 costs, after it was judged that a ban would cause the chef ‘exceptional hardship’.

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