A SPEEDING vicar has been stopped in her tracks by a driving ban.

The Rev Lynn Busfield, priest in charge of Peopleton, Broughton Hackett, White Ladies Aston and Upton Snodsbury, was ordered off the road for six months after admitting speeding at 42mph in a 30mph limit on Station Road in Pershore.

Worcester Magistrates Court heard that Busfield had a string of speeding convictions and was only spared a driving ban in September 2011 because she argued it would cause “exceptional hardship” with her work and that her parishioners would suffer if she was unable to drive.

Busfield, aged 51, of The Rectory, in Peopleton, is also an associate priest of 12 other parishes.

She told magistrates there were no new circumstances for arguing exceptional hardship again.

She said she would have to use taxis to travel around her patch as there was no public transport available.

When asked if it would affect her having her job, she replied: “I cannot speak for the Diocese.

But I would hope that the knock-on effect would make them consider the sensibleness of appointing a priest to cover 16 parishes.”

She was fined £300 and issued with four penalty points, causing her to be banned under the “totting up” process after reaching 12 points in total.

Speaking after her hearing, Rev Busfield said: “I am very embarrassed about the whole situation, but the disqualification was a fair outcome for my speeding offences and my morning in court will certainly ensure that in the future I will be more aware of the speed limit of the road on which I am driving.

“I will be making every effort to fulfil all my parish commitments through a mixture of taxis, lifts and bicycle and I am fortunate that my parishes, the hospitals and crematorium are all within a relatively small area of Worcestershire.”