THE owner of a popular Porthmadog hotel, who told a court that he feared a driving ban would affect his business and its 23 employees, has failed in his bid to remain in the driving seat.

Abdul Awal Quddus, 42, owner of The Royal Sportsman’s Hotel at Porthmadog, already had nine penalty points on his driving licence when he was caught speeding twice more.

At Flintshire Magistrates Court in Mold last week, he ended up with 15 penalty points and a judge rejected a plea that a disqualification would cause exceptional hardship.

Quddus, who is from Ealing in West London, but lives at the hotel throughout the week, admitted driving his Mercedes at 37mph in a 30mph area on the A4212 at Bala on 24 May and at 68mph in a 60mph area on the A5 from Ty Nant to Dinmael on 17 July.

He was banned from driving for six months, fined £800 with £170 costs and a £70 surcharge.

District Judge Gwyn Jones said Quddus had been caught speeding a second time while the first was still within the court system.

He said he was satisfied that the defendant would suffer some hardship, but not exceptional hardship.

Quddus told how he was the sole proprietor of the hotel and had been so for three years.

He employed 23 people and had a mortgage to pay.

His general manager was on maternity leave and it was impossible to employ anyone with the necessary skills at an individual rather than a group hotel for such a short period.

He was spending additional time at the hotel to carry out her duties as well as his own, including banking.

The court heard how he purchased his supplies for the hotel in London and drove them back to north Wales.

He also had family responsibilities at the weekend – his parents were elderly and disabled.

The court was told that he feared the effect of a driving ban not only on himself, but on his employees and his family.

It was accepted that he had nine points on his driving licence, but that was in the context of driving hundreds of miles each week.