A MAN was over the limit when he crashed a seven-and-a-half ton van into the back of a car.
Keith Hodkinson, 46, of Carr Head Lane, Hambleton, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. He was banned from the road for two years, fined £110 with £85 costs and £20 victims’ surcharge by District Judge Jeff Brailsford sitting at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court.
Adrian Hollamby, prosecuting, said Hodkinson was driving an Iveco box van when he collided with the back of a car on Fleetwood Road, Greenhalgh, about noon on October 5.
A breath test showed 59 micrograms of alcohol in his body – 35 is the limit.
Hodkinson said he was distracted by a police car with its sirens and lights on trying to overtake a tractor.
The road was wet and the car in front braked hard, so he slid into the back of it.
He added he had been drinking the night before.
He had had about six pints and stopped drinking by 11.30pm at the latest.
Hodkinson said he drove the van for a friend and the crash happened on the way back from Burnley where they had been to get some fencing.
Follow us on twitter @The_Gazette and like our page on facebook to keep up with all the latest news.