A MAN who was found drunk in the driver's seat of a car in Stourport took a sip from a can of lager after he was breathalysed and arrested.

Benjamin O'Leary also asked for alcohol back which had been taken from his car by police while at the station on September 8 because he has a "dependency on alcohol".

Leslie Ashton, prosecuting, said a police sergeant came across the 36-year-old sitting in his Land Rover with the full beams and engine on at around 1.10am.

She said: "The officer asked him if he had anything to drink, to which he replied, 'I have had a couple'."

The defendant was asked to do a roadside breath test, which gave a reading of 104 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - over the limit of 35 mcg.

O'Leary was arrested, but as the officer was notifying the station, the defendant got hold of a can of lager from his car and took a drink from it.

Ms Ashton said the officer took the drink away from O'Leary and then found more cans in the car, which were also taken.

At the police station, the defendant gave a further breath test, giving a reading of 117 mcg. In interview, he said before the point he was arrested he had been in a public house where he said he had drunk six or seven pints of lager and one-and-a-half glasses of white wine. He said he had more lager after leaving the pub, where he was from 4pm until closing on September 8.

"He said he has a dependency on alcohol and while at the station, he asked for the alcohol to be returned because of it, and that the amount he drank was not unusual for him," Ms Ashton added.

In mitigation, Catherine Maynereid said the self-employed father-of-two did drink between three to four cans a day on average, but on this occasion he had drunk more because he had had an "upsetting evening".

She said: "He ex-wife's new partner had posted something quite offence on Facebook about parenting skills.

"He said he went back to the car to keep warm and accepts he would have driven at some point the next morning."

O'Leary, of Richford Road, Bewdley, pleaded guilty to being drunk while in charge of a vehicle when he appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, September 24.

Chairman of the magistrates Richard Packer had to option to either disqualify him for six months or impose six points on his license.

O'Leary kept his license after it had been endorsed and was ordered to pay a £200 fine, £150 in court charges, £85 in prosecution costs, and a £20 victim surcharge.