Talent judge Morgan fined for speeding

A speed camera caught the 45-year-old driving at 51mph in a 30mph zone in Preston Road, Brighton, East Sussex, on November 13 last year, Sussex Police said.

He was convicted at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty by post.

Morgan, who was listed under his full name, Piers Pughe-Morgan, was fined 666, had six points added to his licence and was told to pay 58 costs, a court official said.

He exceeded the speed limit after judging a charity talent contest at independent, all-girls Roedean School in Brighton, alongside newsreader Katie Derham.

He made light of the case, saying his driving skills would not have got him "past the first round".

The former Daily Mirror and News of the World editor, now best known as a Britain's Got Talent judge who has interviewed the likes of Simon Cowell and Gordon Brown on his ITV1 show Life Stories, is being tipped to take over from US TV interviewer Barbara Walters.