A man who drove a Fiat Punto while almost three times over the drink/drive limit admitted in court he was an alcoholic who should never have been behind the wheel.

Peter Lye, 41, of Wakefield Road, Lepton, pleaded guilty to driving over the limit on the afternoon of August 4.

He also admitted at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court to not having insurance or the necessary licence.

Prosecutor Richard Blackburn said police officers were alerted to the defendant at 3.30pm on August 4 when he was seen contravening the No Entry sign on St Andrews Road as he moved onto Leeds Road.

He said: “Officers carried out a roadside breath test and he was taken to Huddersfield police station.

“The lowest reading of the two was 95 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.”

Duty solicitor, Mark Mangano, said in mitigation: “I think he has an underlying problem – he is an alcoholic. He needs to drink every day.

“There are no excuses. He drinks because of his depression which was caused by the loss of his grandparents who raised him.

“He lives at his future mother-in-law’s home with his fiancee.”

Chairman of the bench, David Longstaff, adjourned the case until September 7 and imposed an interim disqualification.

He told him: “You were approaching three times the limit and you should not have been driving in the first place.”

He granted the defendant unconditional bail until his next appearance in court.