Sheffield driver banned from driving for two months for speeding at 142mph on M1

James Vernon, aged 35, of Wolfe Road, Foxhill, hit a top speed of 142mph between near J35 of the M1 in his Honda Civic GT Type R I-VTEC.

The astonishing speed is twice as fast as the 70mph maximum permitted in the UK.

It is also just shy of the 149mph minimum speed needed for a standard sized jetliner to take off.

At Sheffield Magistrates’ Court, Vernon – who pleaded guilty - was fined £600 and told he was disqualified for 56 days. He also must pay £170 in court costs.

The case seen immediately after Vernon was also for speeding, where a man was disqualified for six months.

Babila Bobga, 55, of Manor Farm Drive, Swinton, Rotherham, sped at 108mph near J30 of the M1 in a Peugeot. He was also fined £350, and will pay costs of £145.

The fastest speeding motorist ever caught in the UK was a driver in Northamptonshire who was clocked at 192mph in a Nissan GT-R. He was jailed for 28 months and banned from driving for 10 years.

In second place was the driver of a Porsche 911 Turbo, who hit speeds of 172mmph in Oxfordshire in 2007. He was banned from driving for three years and served three months in prison.

Between 2019 and 2020, a total of 12,291 speeding fines were handed out between J30 and J31 of the M1.