Worksop chef came 'close to custody' when he was caught over the limit

Alastair Wright's yellow Mini Cooper was pulled over on Dale Lane, Blidworth, at 11.50pm, on January 10, because he was driving with a defective tail-light, said prosecutor Peter Bettany.

Although he denied he had been drinking, a breath test revealed he had 117 microgrammes of alcohol when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

He has one previous conviction from 2010 for drink-driving, but won't be treated as a second-striker by the magistrates as it falls outside the ten-year time limit.

Vicky Clarson, mitigating, said Wright, a father-of-one, had finished his shift as a chef in Worksop and was driving home.

“It's going to be quite difficult for him to get home from his job on public transport,” she said.

Wright doesn't think he has a significant drink problem, she said, but he has suffered from depression following the death of his father.

"He is not someone who regularly appears before these courts and hopefully won't be back here again," Ms Clarson added.

Wright, aged 35, of Caroline Close, Ravenshead, admitted drink driving when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Tuesday.

The presiding magistrate told him: "With a reading that high you were very close to custody."

He received a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. He was banned for 26 months but a rehabilitation course will reduce the disqualification by 25 per cent if he successfully completes it.

He was ordered to pay a £114 surcharge and £85 costs.