A TRAVELLING sales representative from Hest Bank looks certain to lose his job after driving 500 yards home while over the limit and losing his license.

Philip Yoran, 40, of Brink Road, asked Lancaster magistrates if they would keep his driving ban down to 12 months so he had a chance of keeping his job driving 30,000 miles a year - but they banned him for 18 months.

He had drunk the equivalent of four or five pints in the Hest Bank Hotel and was twice over the legal limit before driving the few hundred yards to his home.

The sales rep for Kestral Products, a building goods firm, was clearly upset in court. He has a wife and two dependent children.

His solicitor explained in court why he had been drinking and the circumstances of his arrest: "He wasn't aware that it was a police car behind him. The police car was unmarked so he was rather panic stricken by the car and drove quicker to get home. He was actually relieved to see that it was a police officer when he got home.

"He has never done anything like that before and has an excellent driving record. His father had had a number of heart attacks and he was feeling very sorry for himself that day. He makes no excuses and knows he has done wrong but I ask you to give him, for want of a better expression, a sporting chance to keep his job. If he loses his job he simply doesn't know what he's going to do. He appears before you in a desperate position.

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