A SHARP-eyed high-ranking officer pulled over a drunken motorist after witnessing the driver weaving across the road.

Deputy Chief Constable of Cleveland Police Derek Bonnard was travelling behind a MG car on the A171 Whitby Road near Guisborough, when he noticed the driver veering across the road and frequently hitting snow on the left hand side of the road.

DCC Bonnard, who was driving an unmarked police car, stopped the car in the town centre before calling for assistance.

He said: "It was obviously from the manner of driving that this man had to be stopped, before he injured himself or anyone else. When he got out of the car, he was clearly unsteady on his feet and smelled of alcohol."

The driver, 27-year-old James Nicholson, of Charltons, near Guisborough, failed a roadside breath test and was taken to Kirkleatham Police Station, where his reading was 136 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres breath. The legal limit is 35.

Nicholson pleaded guilty to drink driving at Langbaurgh East Magistrates Court and is due to be sentenced on February 10.