PULLING over in his BMW to make a call on his mobile phone cost a Brington businessman his driving licence, after police officers smelt alcohol on his breath. Ian Kirkpatrick, 37, had driven his company car, picked up earlier in the day, to an Old Weston

PULLING over in his BMW to make a call on his mobile phone cost a Brington businessman his driving licence, after police officers smelt alcohol on his breath.

Ian Kirkpatrick, 37, had driven his company car, picked up earlier in the day, to an Old Weston pub to buy a cigar, but stayed for a couple of glasses of wine, Huntingdon magistrates heard.

On his way home along the B660 shortly before midnight on January 6, he stopped at a lay-by close to RAF Molesworth to use his mobile phone, prosecutor John Goodier told the court.

He was approached by Ministry of Defence police who spotted the car parked on the roadside. Officers from Cambridgeshire Constabulary were then called and, when breath-tested, Kirkpatrick was more than twice the limit, the court heard.

He pleaded guilty to drink driving.

David Potter, for Kirkpatrick, said his client, who usually drives 20,000 miles each year due to his employment in logistics, had a very bad day and "very much regretted" the incident.

It was an "anomaly", said Mr Potter, for a driver to stop and pull over to use a mobile phone.

Kirkpatrick, of Church Lane, Brington, was handed down a mandatory driving ban of two years, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £50 in costs.