A drink-driving doctor has been fined £1,200 and banned from driving for two years.

Nikhil Sharma failed a breathalyser test with a reading of 53 after being found in his car in a lane.

The 45-year-old was also ordered by Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood to take an extended driving test at the end of ban.

Prosecuting advocate Rebecca Cubbon told the court that police received a call from a member of the public on July 22 at 1.20am.

They reported that they were concerned about the manner of driving in relation to a Mercedes on the Old Castletown Road in Douglas, saying that it was being overly cautious on minor bends and was in the centre of the road at times.

Police found the vehicle parked in a lane near the clay pigeon shooting club.

Sharma, who lives on Central Promenade, Douglas, was in the rear of the Mercedes and told police he had drunk one beer earlier in the evening.

He failed a roadside breathalyser test and was subsequently arrested.

At police headquarters, Sharma blew the reading of 53. The legal limit is 35.

During an interview, the doctor said he had been at a work event at The Forge, at Mount Murray.

He reiterated his claim that he had had only drunk one beer and said he had then got a taxi into Douglas with his colleagues.

Sharma said that, after the night out ended in Douglas, he had walked to his home to get his car and had then been giving a work colleague a lift home.

He said that he always drove cautiously at night and that there were puddles at the side of the road, which may have been the reason the member of the public had reported his driving.

The court heard that he has no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Jane Gray said that her client had held a clean driving licence for 16 years and had never been in any trouble before.

Ms Gray handed in letters of reference for Sharma and referred to them, saying that the doctor was held in high esteem by his peers and ‘would always go the extra mile’.

The advocate said that the defendant had thought he would be fit to drive, and had a condition which made his eyes sensitive to light, so he had pulled over because of a taxi’s lights behind him.

Ms Gray said that Sharma denied that his driving had fallen below standard and that he always drove cautiously.

Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood also ordered the defendant to pay £125 prosecution costs.

He agreed to pay all amounts forthwith.