A taxi-driver has been fined £1,000 after illegally picking up two undercover police officers in Watford.

On February 11 last year Zahoor Iqbal of St Paul’s Road, Hemel Hempstead, agreed to carry the officers from the flyover beside Wilmington Crescent to Woodside. He claimed to have picked up the officers by mistake, saying that he had another booking from the same area at the same time to the same destination.

At Watford Magistrates Court on Thursday the prosecution claimed Iqbal booked the job himself using his in-car radio – which is not allowed under legislation covering private hire vehicles.

Carrying any passenger who has not been booked also invalidates the vehicle insurance putting other road users as well as passengers at risk.

On the night he was stopped Iqbal received a fixed penalty notice fine for driving with insufficient insurance before having his vehicle seized by Hertfordshire Police.

The fixed penalty notice carries a fine of £200 and six penalty points.

He was found guilty of plying for hire, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,000 and a victim surcharge of £15.