A pub worker who lives in Dorset fought speeding tickets by claiming her car had been "cloned".

Samantha Keegan used a GB disc and a Union flag sticker to alter her Audi A4's appearance after it was caught exceeding 30mph limits in May, July and September last year.

West Midlands Police said the 33-year-old then suggested speed cameras had snapped another blue Audi using registration details mirroring her own car's plates.

Keegan, who ran three pubs in the West Midlands, was arrested after her car was seized following information that it had been used in a robbery in October last year.

Keegan, who now lives in Gillingham, was cleared of involvement but examination of the car led to her being interviewed about the speeding offences and given an opportunity to "come clean" and pay fixed penalty notices.

Incriminating text messages were subsequently found on Keegan's phone, including one which read: "I can't keep blagging my way out of these, I could end up in serious trouble if I'm found out."

Other evidence gathered by police showed the Audi was driven on the M5 towards Dorset after being caught speeding in Wolverhampton on September 22 last year.

Keegan admitted perverting the course of justice and was jailed for eight months at Birmingham Crown Court last week.

A court spokesman said Keegan had also been ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge.

Pc Steve Jevons, of West Midlands Police's Camera Enforcement Unit, said: "We suspect Keegan was trying to protect her boyfriend - he was a banned driver, and serving a suspended prison term.

"She clearly thought she could get the speeding fines cancelled by lying but she dug a deeper and deeper hole, wasting increasing police time and eventually has ended up behind bars for trying to avoid justice.

"Drivers need to think long and hard about the potential consequences of lying to avoid a speeding fine and licence points. These are not 'little white lies'.

"Courts take a dim view of people trying to deceive the authorities and there is a very real risk offenders will be jailed."