Chelsea star Didier Drogba was pulled over for driving his Mercedes SLR supercar without insurance or even a license, but was spared a court visit after being picked for the Blues' clash with Porto on Wednesday evening.

The 31-year-old hitman was apparently apprehended near his home in Oxshott, Surrey recently, but was let off a court appearance after having been 'picked at the last minute' to play in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League tie.

Perhaps that was the reason behind Carlo Ancelotti's u-turn on whether he was going to make his Ivorian star travel for the dead rubber in the Estadio do Dragao, with Chelsea already through to the last 16.

The Italian had previously stated he would rest him for the Blues' title showdown with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, but surprisingly opted to pair his top scorer with Nicolas Anelka from the start.

Drogba's barrister insisted that he had passed his test in his homeland, and holds an international license, while he also claimed that the striker had mistakenly believed he was covered on English roads by his French insurance.

However, since he has now been a UK resident for well over the one-year's grace which international drivers are afforded, Drogba could be fined upto £5,000 next March, a minuscule proportion of his weekly £115,000 earnings.

However the Scottish Sun reports that the former Marseille man will in fact turn up in court in person in order to plead "special" circumstances in order to avoid a fine.

Clearly he prefers to give money to charity, rather than to the justice department!