A tractor driver in Mayo who caused a tailback of over 7km has been hit with a fine and banned from the roads for a year. 

In giving evidence about the incident, Garda John Boyle stated that the tractor driver was responsible for a tailback of between 80 to 100 cars on the N5 outside Westport, and that it caused a traffic jam that stretched back for about 7 kilometres.

He added that once he reached the front of the "convoy", having passed out the cars in between, he found that the vehicle was travelling at about 20km/h. Although the driver stated that he had pulled in to let traffic by earlier, Byrne still issued him with a fixed charge penalty notice that he had not yet paid. 

The accused driver did not show up in Castlebar District Court to answer to the charges, so Judge Mary Devins hit him with a €300 fine and has banned him from the road for a year. 

Via The Irish Times. Main pic via Peter Mooney/Flickr