A MOTORIST who drove his car two feet while drunk was "very, very close" to being sent to jail, Selby magistrates warned.

Hapless Christopher Hibbert was more than three times the legal alcohol limit when he got into his car after a night out.

But the 44-year-old's drunken journey lasted all of five seconds, after he ploughed straight into a bollard. Nevertheless, the incident cost him a three-year driving ban, a two-year community punishment order and £50 court costs.

Prosecutor Martin Butterworth told Selby Magistrates Court: "At about 7pm on Tuesday, September 20, a police officer on patrol saw the defendant leaving The Swan pub, in Low Street, Sherburn-in-Elmet.

"He was seen to get into a silver Renault. The lights came on and the car was driven two feet forward, then the officer saw it roll back slightly. The brake lights were briefly illuminated and then all the lights were turned off."

The officer approached Hibbert's car, felt that the exhaust was slightly warm, and spotted damage to a front indicator light - and also to a nearby bollard.

At first Hibbert claimed he had had nothing to drink, but he later failed a breath test, which showed he had 125 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, about 3.5 times the legal limit.

Hibbert, of Marsh Croft, Brotherton, near Selby, was disqualified from driving for two years for a similar offence in February 1999.

His solicitor Gemma Carsey, mitigating, said: "On the day in question Mr Hibbert had no intention of driving, but his judgement was impaired a great deal by having drunk eight pints of lager.

"Alcohol is the root of all his problems. He shows a great deal of remorse for this happening, and he didn't intend it to happen."

Hibbert had already pleaded guilty to the offence at an earlier hearing, and at the time was warned by magistrates that he could face a custodial sentence.

Sentencing him, presiding magistrate Graeme Lowe said: "This incident was potentially disastrous, so custody was a distinct possibility. You are not going into custody for this offence, but it was very, very close.

"Because this is your second offence in ten years the disqualification will be a three-year one, and if you drive any vehicle on any public road I can almost guarantee that you will lose your liberty."

Updated: 13:23 Monday, October 24, 2005