NORTHERN IRELAND'S Environment Minister last night described as "absurd" a law which resulted in him being fined for riding his motorbike without tax or MOT.
Sammy Wilson, the Democratic Unionist MP and MLA for East Antrim, was fined £40 for the offence.
He was caught by a camera detection unit on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast - a short distance from the Stormont Parliament Buildings.
The Minister said he had been on the way to have a pre-MOT service carried out on the motorcycle when he was caught and had been unaware he was doing anything wrong.
Calling for a review of the law, the politician, who has five motorcycles, said: "I suspect there are a lot of people who take their cars which are neither taxed or MOTd to go and get them checked before an MOT so they don't fail."