Palwinder Singh Johal, who entered the UK illegally in 2006, was told by a judge yesterday that he had put the public at risk with his actions.

Delivering the judgement, Judge Anthony King at the Oxford Crown Court said that Johal had tainted the validity of driving tests and compromised public safety.

The judge jailed him for two years and recommended that he be deported to India at the end of the sentence.

The court heard that Johal had repeatedly gone to test centres and sat the written exams on behalf of learner drivers.

He was caught when officials noticed that the same bank account being used to pay multiple test fees and that the candidate took a shorter than average time to complete it.

Alex Durran, prosecutor, said records showed that the 'candidates' had often not needed a practice session. She said, "CCTV images showed Johal taking tests at a number of test centres from Birmingham to Chelmsford, and from Croydon to Staines."

Balhar Singh, with whom Johal was sharing a house in Slough, was also arrested. However, he failed to answer bail and is still at large, the Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

Ms Durran said that Johal told police he was paid 100 pounds per test and that he agreed to it to pay back 20,000 pounds to the people who helped him come to the UK illegally.