Barlborough businessman given driving ban

A DRINK-DRIVING Barlborough surveyor who travels 40,000 miles a year on business is reeling from a road ban.

Police followed a Volkswagen Golf that was being driven erratically in Whittington Moor, Chesterfield, at 9.40pm and stopped it in Whittington Hill.

Driver Stephen Taylor, 48, smelled of alcohol and was arrested after he failed a roadside breathalyser test.

Magistrates at Chesterfield heard that he went on to give a reading of 91mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath - more than two and a half times the 35mcgs limit.

His solicitor, David Lawson, said he was a self-employed building control surveyor who travelled a lot to visit work sites.

“The disqualification will severely curtail his ability to run that business. There is going to be a reduction in its income-earning capacity.”

“He will have to get on his bike to some extent and rely on others. He is desperate to continue his business,” said Mr Lawson, adding that Taylor employed his sister and a part-time worker.

The court heard that the ban also affected his family. His mother, recently widowed, needed to visit hospitals in Chesterfield and Nottingham with a urology problem.

“She has severely admonished him. He is a single man and his former partner confirms that he supports his son. He bitterly regrets the offence.”

“He had been playing sport earlier in the day and then he watched a football match in a local hostelry. When he got in the car he felt okay but he knew he had had a drink,” said Mr Lawson, asking the bench to keep the ban as low as possible.

Taylor, of Manor Road, Barlborough, admitted drink-driving on 17th October. He had no previous convictions.

He was fined £550, with £85 costs, and received a 20-month driving ban. It will be reduced to 15 months if he successfully completes a drink-driving rehabilitation course.