A MOTORIST who got behind the wheel while four times the drink drive limit in central York has been banned from driving for three years.

Thomas Douglas Alan Eveson was upset that friends had pulled out of a trip to the Peak District at the last minute, said defence solicitor John Howard at York Magistrates' Court.

“As a result of that, he got a bottle of whisky, drank the best part of it and drove,” said the solicitor.

Eveson, 28, had been suffering from depression and anxiety for some time and had been taking medication prescribed by his doctor.

Katherine Smith, prosecuting, said police spotted his car veering back and forth across the centre of the carriageway in Fishergate at 6.45pm and pulled him over in Bishopthorpe Road.

A breath test gave a reading of 145 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

District judge Adrian Lower told him: “It is difficult for me to believe you didn’t feel the worse for wear. Clearly the manner of your driving caused the police to stop you and fortunately they did so before you could get any further.”

Eveson, of Nunthorpe Avenue, York, pleaded guilty to drink driving.

He was given a 12-month community order with 200 hours’ unpaid work and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and an £85 statutory surcharge.

He was banned from driving for three years.