A THREE-YEAR ban has followed a man being caught driving with excess alcohol.

Gary Vernon Sanders, 51, of Blackberry Lane, Four Marks, near Alresford, was stopped in a 66-reg Mini Clubman on the A31 Winchester Road near the junction with Brickiln Lane on February 24 last year.

His alcohol reading was 188 micrograms per 100 millilitres of blood, when the legal limit is 80.

Sanders initially denied the charge but later changed his plea to guilty.

Magistrates in Basingstoke fined him £120 with a £32 victim surcharge and £40 costs, as well as the 36-month ban.

The ban will be cut by 36 weeks if Sanders passes an approve course by May 29 2023.

A full discount for the guilty pleas was given despite the initial denial. The magistrates accepted there had been "an error in the administration by the police," according to the court record. No further detail was given.