A TAXI driver has been hit with a fine after picking up fares during last year's Reading Festival.

Mohammed Jafri, of Foster Avenue Windsor, was only permitted to trade in the Royal Borough and was spotted collecting a woman on Richfield Avenue on August 28.

The 52-year-old admitted to plying for hire without the correct licence at Reading Magistrates' Court on Friday.

He was fined £400, ordered to pay court costs of £400 and a sur charge of £40.

The court heard how two licence officers from Reading Borough Council were on duty during the festival and suspected Jafri did not have the credentials to pick up fares in the town.

District judge Sophie Toms said: "These are obviously serious offences. You work in a position of trust and these rules and regulations are there to protect the public."