A taxi driver has been suspended for getting behind the wheel of his cab after drinking.

Police pulled over Mohammed Chaudhry’s silver Toyota because he was driving too fast along Bradford Road in Cleckheaton.

The 42-year-old smelled of alcohol and was arrested shortly before 1am on September 17, Kirklees magistrates were told.

Breath tests showed that he had 55 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Magistrates were told that the father-of-three had been out with friends the night before and they had encouraged him to drink.

He got into his taxi to drive home but felt fine, the Huddersfield court heard.

Chaudhry, of Pickles Lane in Great Horton, Bradford, was working on a self-employed basis and has since had his taxi licence suspended.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 14 months.

He will have to pay £120 fine as well as £85 court costs and £30 victim surcharge.