A MAN who had been drinking at a wake failed a breathalyser after being stopped on his way home.

Blackburn magistrates heard police stopped Christopher Mullin at 10.30pm as he exited the M65 at the Guide junction.

Mullin, 56, of Louis William Street, Guide, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. He was banned from driving for 17 months, fined £350 and ordered to pay £85 costs and £35 victim surcharge. He gave a reading of 60 against the legal limit of 35.

Damien Pickup, defending, said his client was a self-employed builder and the inevitable disqualification would hit him hard.

He said his client had been to a funeral and in the course of catching up with old friends and talking about old times had drunk more than he should.