News: Roy “Chubby” Brown fined for reading newspaper while driving

READING A newspaper at the wheel while driving is no joke, as comedian Roy “Chubby” Brown has found to his cost.

The stand-up comic, whose real name is Royston Vasey, was caught on camera reading a copy of the Sun as he drove his white Lexus RX along the A19 in Yorkshire.

He admitted driving without due care and attention, and was fined £30 with four penalty points by Northallerton magistrates. He also had to pay costs of £40 and a victim surcharge of £20.

In an interview on BBC Tees, the 69-year-old comedian apologised for his actions: “I was in the wrong and I apologise. I’ve never been caught on the phone because I don’t do that. I don’t drink and drive. I try to abide by the law.”

Police had arrested Brown, whose shows are so blue they cannot be broadcast on mainstream TV, after the camera spotted him.

Dave Brown, North Yorkshire Police’s mobile safety camera manager, said: “This is another case where our mobile safety cameras have proved that they are not just about speed, demonstrating that we have the technology to capture all manner of offences which put road users at risk.

“Motorists must give the road their full attention as a few seconds’ lapse in concentration can have catastrophic consequences, literally meaning the difference between life and death.”

Brown’s real name of Royston Vasey became known to millions after the creators of hit TV show The League of Gentlemen used it as the name of their fictional town in the Pennines.