Former boxing champion Chris Eubank claims he has won a fight for justice.

Eubank denied committing a crime and maintained he had only been acting as a public-spirited member of the community and a gentleman when he drove away a lorry blocking traffic.

Eubank was driving his children to school along a narrow Brighton street when he found himself in traffic jam behind a brewery delivery lorry.

The former world super-middleweight champion confronted the draymen before getting behind the wheel of the 35ft vehicle and moving it out of the way.

After taking his children to school he returned to the scene where he found himself under arrest by police and charged with aggravated vehicle taking.

After a day-long trial at Brighton Magistrates Court yesterday, he was cleared of the charge but convicted of the lesser offence of taking a vehicle without the owner's consent.

The celebrity was given an absolute discharge by District Judge Anne Arnold, the lowest sentence available.

Eubank, who faced being banned from driving, was given six penalty points on his licence after he admitted driving the lorry without insurance and was ordered to pay £450 prosecution costs.

After the hearing Eubank, of Upper Drive, Hove, said he was delighted with the verdict.

He said: "I could not have had a better result. It proves what I have always said - I am totally innocent of all accusations against me."

Eubank said he would have no hesitation in doing the same again. He said: "Absolutely yes, because what I did was right. A lot of people don't have the strength of character or the bottle but I was taught to stand up in the community and to help."

The court heard how Eubank, 39, a father of four, was driving three of his children to school at 8am on February 21 when he found himself waiting in a queue of traffic in Sydney Street.

A Scottish Courage lorry was delivering boxes of wine and 17 kegs of beer to The Office pub. The vehicle was parked in the middle of the one-way street preventing any vehicle passing.

Frustrated drivers were sounding their horns during the hold-up.

Drayman Gary Chandler said he saw Eubank, who he recognised, approach him when the job was almost finished and claimed the former boxer said to him: "What are you doing, you ****ing p****?"

Mr Chandler said: "He asked us to move the lorry. We said we had almost finished the job. He was not happy and told us he was going to move it himself."

The other drayman, James Webb-Bowen, said he tried to grab the keys to stop Eubank driving the lorry away. He said: "He said to me, You try that again and I will deck you, you p****.' I stepped back and shouted to Gary to call the police."

He denied telling Eubank to move the lorry himself if he wanted it out of the way.

Eubank, who holds an HGV licence, drove the Volvo Urban lorry about 150 yards along the road to Kensington Street, which cleared the jam in Sydney Street.

Eubank was accused of damaging the lorry when he allegedly hit a road sign but the district judge ruled the prosecution had not proved he had caused any damage.

Eubank told the court he had been waiting in the queue of traffic for 20 minutes before he decided to take action.

He denied he had been aggressive towards the draymen. He said he suggested to one of the men they move the lorry to one side of the road so the traffic could pass.

"But his response was indifference so this led me to call him a p***** or a prat, one of the two. They were nonchalant, I don't care who you think you are' type of thing. I said if you don't move it, I will. One of them said, Go on then.' I believed he had given me permission.

"The objective was to get my children to school. Never did I believe I would be prosecuted for what I did. I thought I was doing a service."

He denied threatening to "deck" one of the draymen.

He said: "There is a stereotype I have fought against for so many years that fighters are supposed to be brutes.

"Everything I have done is to dispel that myth. I am not a thug. I didn't break the law. They did by obstructing the traffic."