Frederick Drinkell, who admitted driving with more than double the permitted level of alcohol in his body, was said to have told police officers, “If it wasn’t for that twat on the road, I wouldn’t have ended up in the ditch.” Drinkell was found by police by his Ford Transit van which was crashed into a ditch in Greenfield Lane, Alford, at 7.20pm on February 11, Prosecuting, Marie Stace said he was ‘struggling to stand or hold a conversation’ and was arrested after providing a positive breath test. He gave a reading of 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35. He told police he had been drinking vodka at home and that he had had to take evasive action to avoid another vehicle. Mitigating, Tony Cunningham said Drinkell had been ‘extremely distressed because of work pressures’ and had been drinking the might before and a small amount before going to work. The magistrates banned Drinkell from driving for 22 months but offered the drink drivers’ rehabilitation course which will reduce the period of the ban by 22 weeks. He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work for the community and was ordered to pay £170 in costs and charges.