A DRIVER has been banned from the roads after moving his van to avoid a parking fine while over the alcohol limit.

Mark Pitts entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had received a report that a person who had been drinking had got behind the wheel of their van in Hereford at 12.25am on May 28, prosecutor Melanie Winterflood said.

Officers found Pitts in his Transit van in Commercial Road, turning on their blue lights to pull it over.

Pitts, who was reported to have smelled of alcohol and been unsteady on his feet, was arrested after failing a roadside breath test. An evidential test in custody revealed he had 76 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

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Emily Gourley, for Pitts, said the 34-year-old had travelled to Hereford with a friend for a biking weekend.

"They had pulled up outside Yates and parked there before drinking about three or four pints with a meal," she said.

"But they then realised they could only leave the van parked there until 7am and so took the decision to move it to a 24-hour car park around the corner. Someone called the police and he was stopped after driving a very short distance.

"He tells me he hardly ever drinks after losing his father to drink, and he is really beating himself up. This was one of the few occasions he decided to drink on a rare trip away.

The court heard a mandatory driving ban would mean Pitts would have to put his landscaping business on hold.

Pitts, of Westfield Square, Tadcaster, was disqualified from driving for 17 months and fined £120. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.

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