A driver is today behind bars after he was caught driving at three and a half times the legal alcohol limit.

Christopher Thomson, 53, is also now off the roads for more than 40 months.

York Magistrates Court heard that he was arrested on October 9.

He had been seen driving a Ford Focus at the junction of the A19 with a side road at Riccall.

A breath test gave a reading of 128 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Thomson, of Armoury Road, Selby, pleaded guilty to driving after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of alcohol in his breath exceeded the legal limit.

The court decided that the offence was so serious that he should be jailed because the breath test reading was so high.

He was jailed for 12 weeks and ordered to pay a statutory surcharge of £154.

He was also disqualified from driving for 40 months, plus 42 days giving a total driving ban of 41 and a half months.  It started on the day he was sentenced.