A man seen staggering away from a car outside a village shop, while holding a bottle in his hand, was later found a parked car three times the drink drive limit.

Truro magistrates’ heard that he walking that way because he had drunk gin after "not feeling very well" and that a member of the public was so concerned at the way he was behaving that she called the police.

When officers arrived and gave him a roadside breath test, he registered 98 mcg, nearly three times the limit.

Christopher Lee Hustler, 70, of Trewinnard Road, Perranwell Station, pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge of a vehicle after consuming more than the legal limit of alcohol in breath. 

Jill Wilson, for the CPS, said a woman had notified the police about him at 2.30 pm on November 26 in Bosvigo Road, seeing him putting down a bottle before going into a shop and then coming out with what appeared to be two more bottles. Police smelt alcohol when they found him sitting in a vehicle which was very badly parked, and saw bottles on the passenger seat. When Hustler got out he had to hold on to something to prevent falling over, and swayed from side to side.

He had a previous conviction for drink driving in 2008.

Martin Pearce, his solicitor, said his car had been in a garage for service in Threemilestone that day and he had decided to walk to the nearest shop to buy a bottle of gin which he intended drinking later.

He then drove off towards Truro, started to feel unwell and pulled over outside the Bosvigo Stores and drank from the bottle of gin. He had tried to call his wife to come and drive him home but was unable to get her. He bought more gin.

A carer for his elderly in-laws, he was fined £500 with £135 costs and surcharge and banned from driving for six months.