A FAVOUR for a friend landed a 34-year-old Blackburn man with a three-year driving ban.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Gurmeet Uppal gave the friend a lift to Accrington and narrowly failed a breathalyser on the way home.

The friend had made a statement to police admitting he had put a double vodka in the pint of coke he bought Uppal.

But the friend failed to appear at court on two occasions to give evidence which could have helped Uppal avoid a driving ban.

Uppal, of Thornhill Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. He was fined £200 with £145 costs and banned from driving for three years.

Deborah Morgan, defending, said her client gave a reading of 41 against the legal limit of 35 and had no idea he was over limit.

"As far as he was concerned he had drunk one pint of lager when he finished work at the Red Lion at Whitebirk," said Miss Morgan. "He had no idea his pint of coke, bought for him by a friend, contained a double vodka. The friend has made a statement to the police confirming what happened but he has failed to attend court twice."