THE shattered career of one of the region's senior churchmen was suffered another blow yesterday when he was banned from the roads for drink-driving.

The disgraced Dean of Ripon pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared before magistrates in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, yesterday.

The Very Reverend John Methuen was found to be nearly one-and-a-half times the legal limit when he was breath-tested outside his home in Bedern Bank, near Ripon Cathedral.

The hearing came only weeks after he agreed to resign from his post when charges of misconduct against him were dropped by a church court.

Magistrates heard that police had been called to Bedern Bank on May 13 - a Friday - because of reports of youths causing a disturbance.

They saw the Dean pull up at his house in a Vauxhall Zafira and approached him only to ask if he had been troubled by any teenagers.

However, they noticed alcohol on his breath and tests showed he had 51 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The limit is 35mg.

William Tyler, mitigating, said the offence had been at the lowest end of the scale and the Dean had not been driving erratically or suspiciously.

Earlier in the day, the Dean had lunched with a friend in London and had two glasses of wine. He had then taken a train back to Yorkshire and picked up his car four hours later, believing the alcohol would have metabolised in his system.

"It was a genuine error which he regrets," said Mr Tyler.

He said the Dean had suffered from ill-health through the 1990s, and more recently had suffered from stress and depression because of media attention.

Mr Methuen was banned from driving for a year, fined £250 and ordered to pay £75 costs. The ban will be reduced by three months if he completes a 16-hour drink-drive rehabilitation course, costing £220.

In April, the Dean, who was suspended in September last year, had been due to face charges of conduct unbecoming his office and neglect of duty at a consistory court sitting in Leeds.

However, the charges, which the Dean had always denied, were dropped and he agreed to resign from office. He is on sabbatical leave and must leave by the end of the year.

Following yesterday's hearing, the Dean was driven off by his wife and declined to comment.

In a statement, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Right Reverend John Packer, said: "It was with regret that I have heard of the Dean's drink-driving conviction and I will be seeking a meeting with him at the earliest opportunity to discuss the matter."