A CONCERNED motorist followed a car which veered across the road, mounted the verge and then ploughed into the back of another vehicle, a court was told.

Appearing before Cheltenham Magistrates on Thursday, ex-soldier Andrew Smith, 60, of Salmonsbury Cottages, Station Road, Bourton-on-the-Water pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol in a Dacia Sandero on the A429 at Stow-on-the-Wold on July 11.

A breath test revealed that Smith was nearly three times the legal drink-drive limit, with 109 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35 micrograms, the court was told.

Said prosecuting lawyer Jessica Dobson: “The motorist followed the defendant and noticed the car veering across the road and mount the verge before stopping in a layby

“The car then made off and drove into the back of a white vehicle.”

When police arrived on the scene they found the defendant sitting in the driver’s seat, the court was told.

A probation spokeswoman said that the defendant was an ex-soldier and had been drinking vodka as he still had issues around the death of his wife some 20 years ago.

District Judge Joti Bopa-Rai said: “This was a very high reading and there was an accident.”

Smith was banned from driving for 25 months, placed on a 12-month community order and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs.