Town striker Michael Chopra could be on the verge of bankruptcy, according to the frontman's former wife Heather Swan.

Swan, 30, pleaded exceptional hardship at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court when facing a ban from driving last week, claiming her former husband would be unable to pay for taxis to get the couple’s four-year-old son to school in Newcastle, 10 miles away from her home in Medburn.

Model Swan had been caught at 36mph within a 30 limit in Newcastle and was given three points and, already having nine, would have faced an automatic six-month ban.

Swan, whose own online shoe business Swanblanc recently went into liquidation, said: “My ex-husband has his own financial difficulties and actually could be on the verge of bankruptcy himself.”

Magistrates accepted her hardship plea and opted against banning Swan, who was fined £90 in addition to the three points.

A year ago, Chopra spent time in the Sporting Chance Clinic as he sought to get over a long-standing gambling problem. The 28-year-old revealed that he had lost around £2 million over the years and was lent £250,000 by the Blues to pay back loans.

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