A DRIVER who thought he had no other option but to drive with an expired licence was firmly told otherwise by a Gladstone magistrate.

Nikolaus Graham Schedny told the court he had spent more than a month "working up near the gulf" when his driver's licence expired.

"It wasn't expired when I drove up ... there was no Department of Transport up there and no internet for about 300km from where I was working," Schedny said.

"When I came back it was the weekend and I couldn't do anything until the Monday. I tried to renew it on the internet (when he was back in Gladstone) but you can't do it online if it's 25 days over or something."

And it was at this time Schedny's bad luck took a turn for the worse.

Police prosecutor acting Senior Constable Balan Selvadurai said on October 22 at Mt Larcom, police intercepted the defendant along the Bruce Highway.

Schedny told police he had been busy and knew his licence was expired.

"I full-well knew my licence had expired," he told Magistrate Mark Morrow.

Mr Morrow asked Schedny why he hadn't renewed the licence before he the work trip.

"Doesn't make much sense, does it?" Mr Morrow said.

Schedny admitted he hadn't thought about it at the time and said he hadn't been aware he wouldn't have access to internet.

"Did you make those inquiries before you (went) so you (wouldn't) end up in this predicament?" Mr Morrow asked.

"Because now you're going to lose your licence. Best do a bit more pre-planning than sticking your head in the sand and hoping everything works out."

Schedny was fined $450 and disqualified from driving for one month.

He was told to hand in the new licence he had ordered from the Department of Transport (after the offending occurred) as soon as it arrived in the mail and that he would have to pay for a new one when his month was up.