A van driver has been given a criminal conviction and told to pay £266 for tooting his horn to attract the attention of a friend.

Jamie Spence, 52, from Writtle, near Chelmsford, was spotted by a police officer while sounding his horn outside Braintree station on 4 December last year.

The officer then reported Spence for "sounding an unauthorised audible warning instrument on a vehicle", which led to the criminal prosecution.

"When outside the station, [the] subject vehicle hooted [its] horn a number of times to try and get the attention of a friend, not for the purpose of warning other road users," PC Asa Smith wrote in a statement to Colchester Magistrates' Court.

Spence admitted the offence and at a hearing last week magistrate Richard Deacon sentenced him to a £146 fine and ordered him to pay £120 in costs.

Court documents show that Spence had been offered the chance to settle the case out of court, but he had not responded to Essex Police's offer to pay a fixed penalty fine.

The case was resolved as part of the Single Justice Procedure, where low-level crimes are dealt with behind closed doors.

Spence's case was one of 110 dealt with on 12 May.

The RAC reminded motorists that The Highway Code said a driver "should only use a car horn when they need to alert other road users of danger of a collision or in the event of a potentially dangerous situation".

"It can also be used to alert drivers when approaching a blind spot or corner."

In its online advice, the RAC added: "Misuse of a car horn is illegal and can result in fines for the driver and owner of the vehicle."

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