DRIVING just 50 yards after a visit to a pub proved costly for a North Berwick landscaper as it resulted in a hefty fine and a long ban for drink-driving.

Andrew Watt, 34, was pulled over by police officers at the town’s High Street on November 29, 2019.

He was breathalysed and the reading showed he had 46mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than double the legal limit of 22mg.

Watt’s solicitor Cameron Tait said that his client had been having a business meeting at a pub in the town when his colleague was called away unexpectedly.

Mr Tait said Watt had consumed “two beers and had started on a third” when he decided to head home after the meeting came to an early close.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that police officers then pulled Watt over due to his vehicle having a “faulty brake light” after he had only driven 50 yards.

The court also heard of a second incident where police were called out to Watt’s home on the town’s Keppel Road on July 23 last year.

Two officers had cause to speak to Watt about a possible road traffic offence and he was said to have pushed the officers away from him.

The police managed to “gain control of the accused” and he was taken into a marked police vehicle.

While in the vehicle, Watt was asked about the identity of the driver of one of his work’s vans earlier that day and he was said to have simply replied “no”.

Lawyer Mr Tait said that Watt had been walking into his home when the officers “barged” into his property.

He was asked if he had been driving a vehicle that day, which he denied. Watt then carried out a drink-drive breath test which he subsequently failed.

Mr Tait told the court that any driving ban would be “devastating” to the business owner and that he had 10 employees and needed his licence to get to jobs and for pricing jobs in the evening.

Sheriff Peter McCormack heard that Watt also had a previous conviction for drink-driving from 2013 and, due to him committing the same offence within 10 years, he had no option but to issue a lengthy road ban.

Watt was banned from driving for three years and fined a total of £580.

The sheriff allowed Watt to take part in a drink-drive rehabilitation scheme which if successfully completed would see the ban reduced by a quarter.

Watt was also fined £190 to mark the offence with the police at his home last year.

His not guilty plea to the second drink-drive offence was accepted by the Crown.

Watt pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle with 46mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath at High Street, North Berwick, on November 29, 2019.

He also pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and failing to give the officers the name and date of birth of the driver of a vehicle at Keppel Road, North Berwick, on July 23 last year.