Graham Brown, of 11b Trenowaths Place, Lynn, admitted knowingly acting as the driver of a private hire vehicle without a current private hire licence, at Lynn Magistrates' Court, on Thursday.

Brown picked up a family of four adults and two children, aged six and four, to take them to Gatwick, while working for Lynn taxi firm Haz's Cars, in June, the court heard.

En route to the airport he stopped to buy and down two cans of energy drink Redbull, but nodded off on the M11 and only awoke when one of the passengers screamed out his name, the court heard.

The horrified passenger then took over the driving for the rest of the journey while Brown snoozed, magistrates were told.

Brown, formerly of Rhoon Road, Terrington St Clement, told the court he used to drive taxis as a fill-in between engineering contracts, but had let his private hire licence lapse.

Then in March 2006 he suffered a back injury in a road crash, which left him unable to work and he had no income for 15-16 months, he said.

Brown told magistrates his marriage was shattered by his financial problems and he decided to take on the airport-run job with the hope of using the money to renew his private hire licence and get back on track.

"I knew I wasn't fully fit to return to work but financial circumstances were such that I had to support my family," he added.

Before sentencing, the court was told Brown had three points on his licence for careless driving following a crash on the M11 and a further six points for speeding.

The court was told police had questioned him over the June incident but were unable to take any action.

Haz's Cars had previously admitted operating a vehicle knowing the driver not to have a private hire licence. The company apologised for not checking Brown's licence was still current and was ordered to pay a £500 fine, £250 costs and a £15 surcharge.

After the case, passenger Shaun Akers (36), of Oxborough Drive, South Wootton, who had previously told of his ordeal in the Lynn News, said he was pleased justice had been done. "I'm happy he's got a ban," he said. "You look back and think about what could have happened. I'll never get in a taxi again."