BMW driver, 58, who used a laser jamming device to block police speed cameras

A BMW driving businessman who used a laser jamming device to block police speed cameras has been jailed for three months.

Michael Twizell, 58, was also slapped with a £1500 fine for installing the device that intentionally blocks the signals which track how fast cars are travelling.

But officers investigated when their device recorded an error code when Twizell drove past a police safety camera van last February on the A658 near Harrogate.

It was established that he was using a device on the front of his BMW 3-series that illegally interfered with police camera equipment.

Twizell, of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was today jailed for three months and fined £1,500 at York Crown Court.

Speaking after the hearing, Traffic Constable Andy Forth said: "To use a device which is capable of interfering with police speed measurement is clearly as shown today a very serious matter.

"Drivers may face a custodial sentence for using such a device in this way.

"North Yorkshire Police will continue to investigate similar allegations when people use these devices to interfere with the normal course of justice.

Forth advised anyone who may have a similar device fitted to their vehicle to think about the consequences of using it.

Twizell was pictured in the past next to a powerful BMW with former racing driver and Top Gear presenter Tiff Needell in 2016.

In a similar case in April a driver was jailed for eight months after giving three speed cameras the finger while using a radar jammer.