A DELIVERY driver has been banned from the roads after drinking before getting behind the wheel.

Constantin Denis Sipanu admitted drink-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had been on patrol in an unmarked BMW at 12.40 am on December 20 when they spotted a car heading in the opposite direction at speed in the Kings Acre Road area of Hereford, prosecutor Ralph Robyns Landricombe told the court.

Officers decided to follow the car, pulling it over in Marlowe Drive.

"It was immediately apparent that the driver was under the influence of alcohol," Mr Robyns Landricombe said.

Sipanu was arrested after failing a roadside breath test. An evidential test in custody revealed he had 41 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

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George Cousins, for Sipanu, said the 26-year-old had drunk a couple of bottles of Budweiser at his Emlyn Avenue home that evening.

"He did not have much as he knew he would have to go and pick his partner up," Mr Cousins said.

"He only drove a short distance before he was stopped."

The court heard the self-employed barber has been working as a delivery driver during coronavirus, but that a mandatory driving ban would mean he could no longer continue his job.

Sipanu was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £120. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.