A TEENAGER has been banned from the roads after 'miscalculating' how much alcohol he had drunk.

Adam Christopher Morgan admitted drink-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

The Volkswagen driver had been spotted by police behind the wheel on the A465 at Allensmore just after midnight on April 4, prosecutor Shafquat Reaz said.

They decided to follow him as he pulled into Locks Garage, where they spoke to him and asked him to provide a breath sample.

Morgan was arrested after failing the roadside test, and an evidential test in custody revealed he had 53 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

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Chris Read, for Morgan, said the 18-year-old had been to see a friend that day and was travelling to see another friend in the early hours of the morning when police decided to stop him.

"Police noted a smell of alcohol on his breath during the discussion on the Locks Garage forecourt," he said.

"He had drunk alcohol at his friend's home and it is difficult sometimes to keep track of exactly how much has been consumed and unfortunately he miscalculated. He had tried to moderate his intake, but clearly he was wrong."

The court heard Morgan is currently halfway through an apprenticeship but that a mandatory driving ban would not affect this as family members were prepared to give him lifts to and from work.

Morgan, of Wonastow, Monmouth, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £161. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.