Ian Brown has escaped a driving ban – because he needs to rehearse for The Stone Roses’ reunion shows.

The 48-year-old rocker was fined £650 plus costs of £300 and given six penalty points on his license by Chester Magistrates court after being caught driving at 105mph, with his lawyer Nick Freeman arguing he needed to keep his vehicle in order to attend rehearsals with the newly-reunited group, which he said were taking place at a “remote secret location”.

The lawyer also stated a ban would have caused the ‘I am the Resurrection’ hitmaker “insurmountable” difficulties and would interfere with him seeing his 11-year-old son, who lives in London with his mother.

The court heard from prosecutors that Ian was caught speeding on the M6, near Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, on April 25 this year at around 12.30am and a police officer, who followed him for five miles, saw him drive at 105mph, never dropping his speed below 94mph.

When the rocker was pulled over, he disputed the speeds and initially refused a fixed penalty and opted to plead not guilty, but changed his plea before the trial when he realised he had been wrong.

The court was also told Ian had been driving for 20 years and had three penalty points on his license which have now expired.

His lawyer said: “That driving record in my view is something of an achievement because he travels a massive mileage.

“It’s an extremely quiet car and doesn’t really give much sensation of speed.”