A 45-YEAR-OLD man who got behind the wheel because his wife was ill was found to be more than three times the drink drive limit.

Blackburn magistrates heard Paul Evans had walked to the pub with no intention of driving but while they were out his wife was taken ill. Bridget Hibbert, defending, said Mrs Evans, who hadn’t been drinking, actually got behind the wheel to drive them home but felt too unwell.

“He foolishly took over for the short journey home and he accepts that was the wrong decision,” added Miss Hibbert. Evans, of Howard Close, Accrington, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.

He was banned from driving for two years, made subject to a curfew between 8 pm and 6 am for three months and ordered to pay £145 costs.

He gave a reading of 112 against the legal limit of 35.