A CARER from Silsden has been banned from driving after a 'strong' beer took him over the drink-drive limit.

Philip Smith, 38, was a carer for his granddad and the only person in the household able to drive, Skipton Magistrates' Court heard today.

He was stopped at 2am on December 28 in Station Road, Cross Hills after a police officer noticed front-end damage to his Audi A3.

Smith told the officer he had just collided with a lamp post and admitted he had been drinking. A roadside breath test was positive and he was taken to the police station where he was found to have 55 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Smith, who admitted drink-driving, told the court he was a former heroin addict and had been clean for about nine years.

He said he was a carer for his granddad and on the night had drunk a can of 'strong beer' before driving.

"I thought I was okay to drive, but I made a really stupid mistake. I clipped a kerb and realised I needed to get home," he said.

Smith, of Bolton Road, was banned from driving for a year and fined £145, with costs of £85 and surcharge of £20. If he completes a drink drivers rehabilitation course, his ban will be reduced by three months.