A HEREFORD dairy worker has been banned from the roads after police were called by shop staff.

Brent Anthony Robinson entered a guilty plea to one count of drink-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police were called to Hereford's Ledbury Road Tesco shop at 2pm on November 29 by staff who had refused to sell Robinson alcohol, believing him to be intoxicated, prosecutor Eleanor Peart said.

Robinson, who had driven to the shop in his Suzuki Celerio, was trying to buy three bottles of cider, the court heard.

He was arrested after failing a roadside breath test and taken to Hereford police station for an evidential breath test, which revealed he had 58 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

"This is his third conviction for excess alcohol, the latest being in 2019," Miss Peart said.

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Marilena Di Vitantonio, for Robinson, said the 60-year-old accepted the case as outlined by the prosecution.

"He was interviewed that day and the evidence is his own, because he admitted in interview that he drank at home before driving to work at Bartonsham Dairies, and then driving to Tesco. He then waited there until police arrived.

"Clearly alcohol is an issue, and he does have two previous drink-drive offences, in 2006 and 2019."

The court heard Robinson had previously taken the drink driving rehabilitation course but would welcome the opportunity to take it again.

Robinson, who is of Eaton Bishop, Herefordshire, was handed a 12-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and must complete a 12-month alcohol treatment programme.

He was also disqualified from driving for 36 months and must pay prosecution costs of £135 and a £114 victim surcharge.

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