FOREIGN exchange dealer Martin Preston-Davies thought he could outwit traffic police and escape a speeding fine.

When he was snapped by a speed camera on the Northam Bridge in Southampton, he decided to use the fact he had two near-identical cars to try to get out of paying the fine Because he had put his personalised number plate on to a silver Citroen XM he had just bought on an Internet auction site, he saw an opportunity to evade justice. He claimed he did not know who the driver was - and even denied owning the car.

He was found out when speed camera chiefs compared the picture taken by the speed camera with a photograph of his other car which Preston-Davis had sent to them.

Officers played spot the difference with the two pictures and found five discrepancies between the two vehicles. They had different wing mirrors, wheels, grille badges and fog lights - and only the vehicle snapped by the speed camera was displaying a Citroen Car Club badge. Now Preston-Davis, 51, of Botley, has been warned he may face a prison term after admitting perjury and speeding.

Peter Humphris, defending at New Forest Magistrates' Court, said his client bought the car and, after noticing the front registration plate was missing, he stuck on a spare one he had of his personalised plate.

Mr Humphris said: "He was stupid because he realised his initial mistake in putting the plate on the car, then he compounded the situation by saying he did not know who the driver was. No-one has been wrongly prosecuted because of his false statement."

Preston-Davis, a self-employed foreign exchange trader, who lives with his partner and one child, has two previous driving convictions. He was banned for two weeks in 2004 following a speeding offence and he received three points on his licence in 2005 for having two defective tyres. Magistrates will sentence him for the latest offences next week.