Local resident and international film star Simon Pegg has been banned from driving for six months after speeding in London.

Pegg, 50, who has often used Welwyn Garden City as a filming location, did not appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on February 3.

But he did admit to driving a Mercedes GLE 500 at 63mph in a 40mph zone on the A41 in Hendon in north London, on January 20 last year.

He was fined £660, given five points of his licence which, in addition to the nine points he already had, meant he was disqualified from driving and has to pay £85 in court costs and a £66 victim surcharge.

Hot Fuzz, released in 2007, was partially shot in Welwyn Hatfield and features a scene where Pegg and his frequent collaborate Nick Frost carry out the shortest police chase.

Since the filming of that movie, the WHT has reported on similar moments of life imitating art. In November 2019, a local police officer successfully guided a swan in a Hot Fuzz-esque incident and in 2017 two large runaway pigs had their bacon saved by police after they were spotted wandering in a road near Welwyn Garden City.

Mr Frost and Pegg's recent collaboration, Amazon series Truth Seekers, also saw them filming at the Shredded Wheat Factory in Welwyn Garden City.