The former head of a police driving school was banned from the roads after being caught speeding at 118mph.

Paul Gee, 49, was clocked by a mobile camera near Falkirk in Central Scotland while on duty.

Gee, of Heddon on the Wall in Northumberland, who recently retired as an inspector with Durham Constabulary, admitted the charge at Falkirk Sheriff Court.

He was disqualified from driving for three months and fined £500.

Gee claimed to have been testing the route to see if it was suitable as a training ground for traffic officers.

His force tried to get Central Scotland Police to exempt him, but they refused and pursued the prosecution.

Sheriff Craig Caldwell told Gee: "I have sat here on very many occasions saying to those who use these roads that people who drive at near, and especially above, 100mph will not retain their driving licences.

"Your speed is perhaps not the highest I have seen, but it is very high indeed."

Gee, who trained officers at Durham Constabulary's advanced traffic school, was caught speeding on the M8 at a bridge near Falkirk on November 3.

The court heard Gee was caught speeding while going to pick up an officer who had been receiving treatment for a back injury at a rehabilitation centre in Auchterarder, Perthshire.