A MAN freewheeled his way into trouble after taking a downhill breather while pushing his motorbike to his girlfriend's home.

Blackburn magistrates heard that the couple were spotted astride the bike without crash helmets and subsequent inquiries showed Stuart Hartley to be a disqualified driver and over the drink drive limit.

And the court heard that while Hartley would never have dreamt of riding the machine with the engine running he now accepted that his actions were in breach of the law.

Hartley, 19, of St Thomas Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, with excess alcohol and without insurance.

He was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £50.

The court heard that Hartley, who was disqualified for six months in January under the totting up procedure, said to the officer who stopped him: "I'm not riding it I'm just sitting on it."

Daniel King, defending, said that was not the interpretation the law put on the situation and Hartley now realised what he had done was wrong.

He said Hartley was taking the bike from his mother's home to his girlfriend's and she was helping him.