A Selby man was caught for a drink-driving offence when he walked into a police station to discuss another matter and a constable smelled alcohol on his breath.

Ian Land, 59, turned up at York Police Station, in Fulford, for a prior appointment to discuss matters unconnected with drink-driving.

Valerie McMinn, prosecuting at Selby Magistrates Court, said that Land had driven to the station in a minibus.

She said that a uniformed officer, who was in the station at the time, smelled alcohol on Land's breath. A breath test proved positive, revealing 54 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Mrs McMinn said that Land had parked the minibus in the police station's front car park. When questioned by the uniformed officer, he said he had had a "good drink" from a hip flask.

However, she said, a forensic "back calculation" report suggested that the defendant had been drinking before he got to the police station.

The court heard that it was Land's second drink-driving conviction.

In 1996 he was banned from driving for three years and sentenced to three months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Land, of Windmill Gardens, Selby, admitted drink-driving, in Fulford Road, York, at 10.50am on Tuesday, April 29. He was represented by Keith Haggerty.

Magistrates adjourned the case until Wednesday, August 6, for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the probation service.

They asked for an "all options" report, including the possibility of imprisonment.

Updated: 12:12 Thursday, July 17, 2003