A TAXI driver is off the road for 12 months after he was caught drink-driving home from the pub.

John Eric Young had been a taxi driver for 12 years but now faces a year when he cannot work, York magistrates heard.

Prosecutor Jane Chadwick said police pulled Young up because of the way he was driving in Heworth in the early hours of September 27.

A breath test gave a reading of 49 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milligrams of breath. The legal limit is 35. Young, 58, of Pottery Lane, off Malton Road, York, pleaded guilty to drink-driving. He was fined £100 with £35 prosecution costs and banned from driving for 12 months.

His solicitor, Chris McGrogan, said: "He is going to suffer quite considerable financial and person difficulties. It is inevitable he will lose his licence and he will not be able to work. He will suffer difficulties paying his mortgage."

Young was a self-employed taxi driver who had been serving passengers for 12 years.

Recently, he had suffered medical problems which his doctor had diagnosed as stress related. This had worried him so much, he had virtually stopped eating.

The court heard the day before he was stopped he had only had a sandwich to eat. Then he had gone to the pub in the evening and had two or three pints.

"He had not felt that he was over the limit. Given the value to him of his licence, he would not have jeopardised it unnecessarily," said the solicitor.