A DROITWICH Spa woman, who is a former company director, has been fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs by magistrates.

Ann Gartlan, aged 37, of Enid Blyton Corner, admitted seven offences of aiding and abetting Ivory Plant Hire Ltd, in Wadborough, to use goods vehicles without an operator's licence between February 4 and March 10 last year.

When Gartlan was asked to confirm her name and address, her solicitor, Mark Hammond, asked Evesham magistrates to allow her not to give her address in open court. The application was rejected.

Lee Trubshawe, for the Vehicle Inspectorate, said the company went into voluntary receivership in December and was wound up in January. Before that, from February 1999, when the licence was withdrawn, it operated illegally as a haulage business.

Mr Trubshawe said Gartlan was well aware of the law because she had previously held a licence in her own name and was the sole director of Ivory Plant Hire Ltd for a time.

Mr Hammond explained that as company director, Gartlan's responsibilities were solely administrative. The operational side was something she was not involved in.

He said: "She is in some difficulty now because the company has gone into liquidation. She has lost repute and, for at least five years, she is unlikely to be able to work in any responsible position in transport."

At the hearing on Thursday April 12, he added the stress of the matter over the years had taken its toll on her health.