SAFETY checks on school buses led to the discovery of a drink-driving cabbie who had just delivered two children to a special school in Spennymoor.

He was caught during Operation Coachman, in which police officers stopped buses and taxis leaving schools after dropping children off.

Of the 200 vehicles inspected, 13 were served with immediate prohibition notices - at a rate of one in 15 being condemned as unsafe.

The checks were carried out at 11 locations in County Durham in the operation, run by Durham police along with Durham County Council and the Vehicle Inspectorate.

Taxi driver Derek Orchin, 49, of Great Lumley, had six cans of beer the night before he took the two children from Durham to Whitworth School.

Orchin, who appeared before Sedgefield magistrates in Newton Aycliffe on Friday, admitted drink driving and was disqualified from driving for a year, reduced to nine months if he completes a rehabilitation course, and fined £200, plus £55 costs.

A police spokeswoman said: "The education authority immediately terminated the firm's contract."

The 13 condemned vehicles included six with worn tyres and others with defective lights, insecure seats and a jammed passenger door.

A further 11 were issued with delayed prohibition notices, giving operators time to correct minor faults.