A MAN who was caught behind the wheel while more than three times the drink drive limit has lost his licence.

Adam Burgess, 29, was stopped by police after he was seen driving on the A167 in the early hours of February 4 with no lights on.

Burgess appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court today (Tuesday, April 7) charged with driving a motor vehicle when over the alcohol limit, taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and using a motor vehicle without insurance.

John Garside, prosecuting, said: “Mr Burgess was drinking with friends in Darlington who took his keys to prevent him from driving home, so he took someone else’s keys.

“He was seen driving a BMW with no headlights on and police arranged for him to be stop checked. He failed a road side breath test, out of two readings the lowest was 130mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath.”

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

Laura Calvert, mitigating, said: “Mr Burgess has demonstrated a very genuine remorse for his actions. He was under a lot of stress at the time and accepts that he might not have been dealing with that."

Burgess, of Ochre Yard, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to all three charges and was banned from driving for 36 months. He was also given a 12 month community order, a fine of £250 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £60.