THE headteacher of a top-ranking North-East primary school last night said he had let himself down after he was caught by police drink-driving.

Thomas Lumley, 53, of High Coniscliffe Primary School, near Darlington, was banned from driving for a year when he appeared in court yesterday.

He was stopped by police for a faulty tail-light on his way home from a restaurant in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

He gave a positive breath test to officers and a blood sample showed he had 87 milligrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrammes, the court was told.

Mr Lumley, whose school was ranked first in Darlington in the recent primary league tables and has Beacon status, admitted drink-driving yesterday at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court.

The court heard he drank some wine during a meal with his wife on September 24 but felt fine to drive.

Officers stopped him on Etherley Bank, a mile from his home in Witton Way, High Etherley, near Bishop Auckland.

Robert Willoughby, in mitigation, said: "He is thoroughly ashamed to find himself appearing before a court for the very first time. He has a clean driving licence."

Magistrates fined him £180 and £43 costs.

He can reduce his ban by three months if he takes part in a drivers' rehabilitation course.

Mr Lumley, headteacher of High Coniscliffe for almost 20 years, told The Northern Echo last night that he was clearly in the wrong.

He said: "I cannot argue against the facts, it is irrefutable.

"I am not irresponsible, I do not do things like that."

He said he decided to take his wife out after a tiring day so she would not have to cook.

He said: "I drank a bottle of fizzy water and wine with the meal. I did not think that I would have had enough wine to take me anywhere near over the limit."

He said the ban would not affect his work at the school and that he was considering mentioning the matter to parents and pupils at a school carol service in the village church this afternoon.

He said: "If I consider that I have let those people down, then I will address that issue as I think it needs to be addressed.

"There is an element of the trust that parents in the community place in me that I feel I may have somewhat lost. I think I have let myself down."