A 61-year-old drink driver has been banned from roads for a year and fined £750.

Gregory Daniel Hodge, of Thornhill Close, Port Erin, admitted the offence after failing a breathalyser test with a reading of 42.

Prosecuting advocate Sara-Jayne Dodge told the court that police saw Hodge’s Renault Kangoo van on April 27, at 9pm.

It was parked outside the Riddler under the Nest pub in Port Erin.

During their patrol, officers saw Hodge in the pub.

At 10.35pm, they saw him driving on the promenade in Port Erin and subsequently stopped him.

The defendant was described as smelling of alcohol and he failed a roadside breathalyser test.

After being arrested and taken to police headquarters, Hodge took a further test which produced the 42 reading, above the legal limit of 35.

He was offered the option of a blood test, as is the law for readings under 50, but that test came back with a reading of 86, above the blood legal limit of 80.

The court heard that Hodge, who lives at Thornhill Close in Port Erin, has no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Peter Taylor asked for credit to be given for his client’s guilty plea and his co-operation with the police.

Hodge said that he had gone to collect his wife, who was working at the pub.

However, he said she had been delayed so instead of having one pint, he had two, in one and a half hours.

He said that he had felt ok and had been driving home.

Mr Taylor said that his client was only just over the limit so the offence was at the lower end of the scale.

Magistrates also ordered the defendant to pay £125 prosecution costs and to take an extended driving test at the end of his ban.

He will pay all amounts at a rate of £200 per month.