A TAXI driver from Corsham has appeared in court to admit a charge of drink-driving.

Dean Stokes, 20, from Potley Lane, Corsham, was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £115 at Chippenham Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Tessa Hingston told the court how police stopped Stokes in his Vauxhall Vectra in Bath Road, Chippenham, in the early hours of April 18.

He was driving to Corsham from Chippenham, to take his girlfriend home after a night out.

His alcohol reading was 62mg per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Mr Stokes, who defended himself, had been drinking that evening but after sleeping for three hours he thought the alcohol had worn off and that he was fit to drive.

He opted to attend a drink-driving course, which will reduce his sentence by four months if he completes it within a year.

North Wiltshire District Council confirmed that Stokes was working for Corsham Taxis at the time of his arrest and that his Hackney carriage licence will be revoked, as he no longer holds a valid DVLA driving licence.

Corsham Taxis were unavailable for comment.

5:56pm Friday 9th May 2008

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