Headmistress on £57k a year banned from driving after she's caught speeding at 38mph

A nursery school headmistress caught speeding at 38mph in a 30mph zone faced losing her job after she was banned from driving for six months - despite begging to be spared a ban under "exceptional hardship" rules.

Ursula Krystek-Walton, 43, is head of early years at a national nursery provider, and takes home around £57,000 a year for the role at Thrive Childcare and Education, overseeing 37 nurseries between Aberdeen and Manchester. The mother-of-one, from Hazel Grove, was disqualified under the totting up procedure after being caught speeding four times in less than three years.

She begged Wirral magistrates in Merseyside to let her keep her licence, arguing that she might lose her job as she needs to visit between five and ten nurseries each week across the UK. However, the bench rejected her plea, saying the hardship she would suffer was ''not exceptional enough.''

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The court heard Krystek-Walton already had nine points on her licence for three separate speeding offences when she was caught driving her Mini Countryman at 38mph on 30mph Leeds Street, Liverpool, on March 30. When asked what her employers had said about the possibility of her losing her licence, she said: "They have said ‘We'll wait and see what happens.’

"They will see what they can do with my role. I could not do my current role but there may be a different role essentially. But there is a risk to my job. They have not confirmed anything.”

She told the court her mortgage is £1,200 a month, and her husband works full-time so they would work out a way to manage the household bills - "because we would have to" - if she did lose her employment.