A CANCER patient has been banned from the roads after he was seen drink driving his mobility vehicle.

CCTV operators alerted police to the actions of Michael Laverack in the city centre, prosecutor Melanie Ibbotson told York magistrates.

He was nearly three times the legal alcohol limit.

He told police he didn't think the drink driving laws applied to his electric scooter, she said.

Retired Rowntrees employee Laverack, 58, told the court he suffers from cancer in two parts of his body and spends his days entirely at home.

But his son had persuaded him to go out with him that day.

He also told the court he didn't have a driving licence.

"They suspended me, they took my licence from me. You don't need a licence for the bike," he said, referring to the mobility vehicle and without clarifying whether "they" were the DVLA or some other authority.

Laverack, of New Earswick, who came into court with the aid of a stick, pleaded guilty to drink driving. 

He was banned from driving for two years, fined £153 and ordered to pay a £34 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs, making a total of £272.

He said he lived on a Rowntree pension and benefits.

Ms Ibbotson said operators for the city centre CCTV were so concerned by the way Laverack's vehicle was being driven when they saw it at 8.30pm on September 11, they contacted police, believing that a drink driver was at the wheel.

With their help, officers went to where Laverack's mobility vehicle was parked outside the Three Cranes in St Sampson's Square.

They found Laverack who confirmed he had been driving it and that he had had a few drinks.

He wasn't able to give a roadside breath test for medical reasons, but gave a sample of blood at a police station, she said.

It had 223 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams.

He has no previous convictions for drink or drug driving.

Laverack represented himself.

"My son came round, he said come on, we're going out. We went out," he said.

His mobility vehicle had a maximum speed of 4 mph. "It was like riding a push bike," he said.

He hadn't drunk at home before they left, but he had had something to drink at one pub and then he had driven his mobility vehicle to the next pub which was "five minutes" away, he said.

"I am not going to do it again," he said. "I don't go out drinking".

He said his plan had been to leave the vehicle in the car park that evening, get a taxi home and collect the vehicle the next day.