Takeaway driver Nathan Gothard banned for car insurance offence

It was the third time Nathan Edward Blue Gothard had been in trouble with the police over his vehicle.

North Yorkshire Police are now warning that they are on the look-out for other takeaway drivers operating outside the law.

Gothard, 33, of Scarborough Road, Filey, must pay a total of £1,011 consisting of a £660 fine, a £264 statutory surcharge and £90 prosecution costs.

He had been convicted of driving without insurance in his absence and was banned from driving for 12 months at Harrogate Magistrates Court.

A police spokesman said officers spotted Gothard in a green three-door Ford Focus on the A165 near Primrose Valley on the Yorkshire coast at 10.45pm on July 15.

He claimed to officers that he had business use insurance for his car that covered delivering food.

But when they checked with the insurance company it said that was not the case as it didn’t cover that kind of risk.

Police had caught Gothard in the same location on June 24, 2022 when he had denied that he had been delivering food to a nearby holiday park. He had claimed he had been to Bridlington.

But, said police, he had had food delivery bags on the passenger seat and footwell of his car and an officer had seen him entering and leaving the park.

He was given seven points on his licence for that offence of not having the correct insurance.

In October 2022 he was fined £440 for making excessive noise after members of the public complained about him having a loud exhaust.

PC Jamie Manson, of the Filey and Eastfield neighbourhood policing team, said: “Nathan Gothard clearly does not abide by the law when it comes to driving and he has rightly received a considerable disqualification.

“This is a stark warning to other food delivery drivers that we will be looking out for potential offenders who think they can operate without the required insurance cover.”