A RECOVERING alcoholic about to launch his new business has found himself banned from the roads after he was found behind the wheel of his new van while over the drink drive limit.

Matthew Brown, 28, pleaded guilty to the charge of being above the drink drive limit on July 9 when he came before magistrates sitting in Swindon on Wednesday morning.

The court heard from crown prosecutor Nick Barr that the defendant had been at a family member's party on the evening of July 8 when he decided to join his partner in the town centre. But after they argued he got behind the wheel of his new van to drive home.

The police were alerted to this and they drove to his home address on Ruskin Avenue to await his return.

Smelling alcohol on his breath they took him into custody where he provided a reading of 66mg of Alcoa on 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Representing himself in court, Brown told the magistrates he did not dispute the prosecution's version of events. He explained he had been off work for the last 12 months having suffered a head injury and was in the early stages of launching his own business. He said: "There is no excuse for drink driving. I used to be an alcoholic eight or nine years ago. My partner gave me the ultimatum it was her or the drink and I knocked it on the head. I went to all of the anonymous meetings and got off the drink.

"That night I was allowed to go for a drink which was stupid. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. One is too many, but 20 aren't enough.

"My business is going to fold, I don't know what I am going to do with my life, I will probably be back to square one."

Sentencing him, chairman of the bench Alison Auvray find him £120 and ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £30 but imposed no costs.

She also banned him from the roads for 17 months, but gave him the option of completing the drink drivers' awareness course which, if completed, will reduce the length of his ban.