A FARMER has been banned from the roads after he was caught drink-driving after a trip to the pub.

Matthew James Duggan entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had seen Duggan's Volkswagen Amarok leaving the White Lion pub in Leominster on May 22, prosecutor Ralph Robyns Landricombe said.

Officers became suspicious and followed the 29-year-old as he turned off into the Worcester Road industrial estate, as there were no businesses open at that time.

Duggan, who admitted that he had drunk a pint before driving, was arrested after failing a roadside breath test. An evidential test in custody revealed he had 49 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Danny Smith, for Duggan, said he had driven some friends to the pub that day and thought he would be ok to drive.

"He has been driving for 12 years and has never had any difficulties," Mr Smith said.

"Driving for him is not just a thing of convenience, but it is very much part of his job on the family farms. He needs his licence to do that and to get between their three farms. This is going to have a massive impact on his family.

"Over the last year they have not had it easy and the family has been very much reliant on their son to drive to the farms."

Duggan, of Kimbolton, Leominster, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £300. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.