A BUS driver who admitted getting behind the wheel while nearly three times over the legal limit is no longer working for the company.

David Thompson, 55, was stopped in Accrington town centre last Monday

The company had been alerted that he may have been drinking by a concerned passenger and promptly reported the matter to police.

Officers stopped Thompson in Bridge Street, close to the bus station, and after failing the roadside test he was taken to Blackburn police station for a second test. Police said he was almost three times the drink drive limit, with an alcohol reading of 91 in his breath compared to a legal maximum of 35.

George Scrymgeour, regional director of Burnley and Pendle Transport, said: "We have taken an extremely serious view of this incident and following an interview during a disciplinary hearing Mr Thompson no longer works for the company."

Thompson, of Princess Street, Colne, admitted the drink driving offence at Hyndburn magistrates last week. His solicitor told the court that he had been drinking the night before while trying to come to terms with the deaths of his mother and two work colleagues.

Graham Parkinson, defending, told magistrates that Thompson, accepted he was some considerable amount over the drink driving limit having had a lot of alcohol to drink the previous evening.

He added that the reason for the drinking was due to the enormous amount of stress Thompson had suffered after the recent death of his mother and two close work colleagues.

He will be sentenced on March 27.