A young entrepreneur from North Wales has been allowed to remain in the driving seat.

The decision means that John Williams, 20, can continue with his business – first set up when he was a schoolboy – which involved renovating and selling classic Land Rovers.

The defendant was seen by officers in an unmarked police car speaking on his mobile phone while driving in Kinmel Bay in May.

The offence now carries six penalty points – which would take the number of his points on his driving licence to 12.

Flintshire Magistrates’ Court at Mold heard today that meant he faced a driving ban under the totting up procedure.

But magistrates accepted that a ban would case him exceptional hardship.

Williams, from Ty Du Road at Glan Conwy, needed to drive to run his company which employed two mechanics, and also to drive his mother who was seriously ill.

Alun Williams, prosecuting, said that on May 12 police in an unmarked police car saw him driving a Isuzu truck on the A547 road in Kinmel Bay holding a mobile phone to his ear and his lips were moving.

Don Roberts, defending, said that his client was not having a long conversation.

He picked up the mobile phone from the passenger seat when he realised his  mother was calling him – and he simply told her that he could not talk because he was driving.

Williams could realistically be described as “a young entrepreneur” who ran a business purchasing classic Land rovers from various parts of the country, doing them up and selling them.

The business was first started in 2013 when he was still in school studying his GCSEs.

He had an interest in such vehicles and their mechanics and repairing them.

It eventually became a limited company in February 2015 when he was aged only 17, initially with the help of his father.

It was his intention to develop his company to have a nation-wide and European-wide reputation for providing such classic vehicles via the Internet.

He was working extremely hard, long hours, and driving about 30,000 miles a year to develop the company.

His client could be called to any part of the country to source vehicles as and when they came up.

He often set out early in the morning and two mechanics relied upon him, said Mr Roberts.

Magistrates accepted that a disqualification would cause exceptional hardship.

Williams received six penalty points but no ban, and he was fined £200 with £85 costs and a £30 surcharge.