A DRINK-DRIVER more than twice the limit was told by a judge he must have known he was taking a chance.

Burnley magistrates heard David Michael Linfield, 22, told police he had had three or four drinks.

Linfield, of Todmorden Road, Burnley, admitted driving with excess alcohol on April 24. He was fined and banned for 18 months.

Bill Maude, prosecuting, said police saw the defendant driving on Parliament Street at 10.45pm and stopped him.

They asked if the car he was driving was his and noticed his breath smelled of drink. He was asked to provide a roadside breath test, it was positive and he was arrested and taken to the police station.

The lower of two breath tests there showed 74 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath - the legal limit is 35.

Linfield was said to have been of previous good character. Richard Taylor, defending, said Linfield co-operated with police, had no similar previous convictions and accepted he had been stupid.