A MAN from Sutton in Craven who made a late night visit to his ex partner was banned from driving after she reported him to the police.

Christopher David Oldcorn, 26, was sitting in the passenger seat of his Mitsubishi L200 with the keys in the ignition when police arrived at Gordon Street in the early hours of October 26, Skipton magistrates heard.

At the police station he was found to have 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35.

Oldcorn, who admitted drink-driving, had been in a long term relationship with his ex-partner and had been hoping for a reconciliation, the court was told.

In mitigation, John Mewies said he had made the poor decision to drop in on the woman in Ash Grove at around 2am.

After a short while he had driven off back to where he was living, only a short distance away, where he was found by the police.

"He is not a heavy drinker, he had only driven a short distance and his ability to drive was not substantially impaired," said Mr Mewies.

Mr Mewies said Oldcorn, of Hazel Grove, was a self employed dry stone waller whose earning power would be seriously curtailed by the loss of his licence.

He was banned from driving for 12 months, fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £85, criminal courts charge of £150 and surcharge of £20. If he completes a drink drivers rehabilitation course, his ban will be reduced by 13 weeks.