A SECURITY guard has been fined for using a card he found on the floor to avoid paying the toll on the Itchen Bridge in Southampton.

Carl Coppin, who had been accused of using a Smartcities card almost 400 times, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and was fined more than £400.

The 58-year-old of Acacia Road, Southampton, said that he found the card on the floor and that it did not have any writing on it or address to return it to.

He said that he tried it on the Itchen Bridge and after it allowed him through, continued to use it.

The card allows Itchen Bridge staff to cross the bridge free of charge, as well as emergency services and disabled people.

Kathryn Rickwood, prosecuting, told West Hampshire Magistrates' Court that between October 4, 2015 and February 25 this year the card was used 379 times, although Coppin did not admit to all of these offences.

After he was caught Coppin offered to pay the £200 believed to have been the amount he avoided paying on the toll.

However, this offer was not taken up by Southampton City Council and the case was sent to court.

Jamie Gammon, defending, said: "He said that he found the card and when he found it, it had no print on it and didn't know where to return it.

"He likened it to finding a £10 note and keeping it.

"This is the bridge which charged a toll to help pay the £12million to build it but the toll was never removed.

"His mother had slipped on a pavement and was in the hospital with a broken hip and had to travel back and forth sometimes as many as four times a day."

Speaking to the Daily Echo after the case, Coppin said that he was under a lot of stress at the time due to his mother's ill health and the fact his step-father had recently suffered a stroke and had been using the card to visit his mother.

In mitigation, Mr Gammon said that if anything other than a conditional discharge was imposed on Coppin, he may lose his job as a part-time security guard due to restrictions in the industry which he argued "would have quite a Draconian affect on him".

The chief magistrate said: "This offence is serious as it is against the public pocket in Southampton.

"However, I do note that you were very open and quick to admit guilt and offer to pay the money back.

"We are prepared to give you a conditional discharge."

Coppin was also ordered to pay £206.25 in compensation to the council as well as £200 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.