A 55-YEAR-OLD man suffered a panic attack after providing a positive roadside breath test, Skipton magistrates heard.

Police alerted to Peter Myers' tail lights in a remote part of Ingleton, stopped him and carried out a breath test, which proved positive, the court was told on Friday.

On his way to the police station, he complained of travel sickness, and at the station, repeatedly struggled to provide a sample. He eventually managed one, that showed he had 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35, but was unable to provide the necessary second sample.

Myers, who admitted failing to provide a sample for analysis at Skipton Police Station on January 3, had stopped off for a drink after driving his daughter from Lancaster to Dent, the court was told.

He had been reluctant to return home because it had been the second anniversary of his wife's death, and had spent longer in the pub.

Mitigating, Michelle Flaga said Myers had thought he was all right to drive and had been on his way home when he had been stopped by police.

She said he suffered from anxiety, panic attacks and depression and attempting to control his breathing made it difficult to provide a breath sample.

Myers, a smallholder, of Westhouse, Ingleton, was banned from driving for 16 months and fined £200, with costs of £85 and a victims surcharge of £20. If he completes a drink drivers rehabilitation course by November, his ban will be reduced by 16 weeks.