DRINK-driver Steven White was sent to prison for five months after being told he was a danger to an entire town.

Bury Magistrates heard that since 1991 he had been banned from driving three times and was the subject of disqualifications totalling 25 years. He had also previously received custodial sentences adding up to ten months.

However, despite his record, when White, (42) of Rooden Court, Prestwich, was caught driving again last October he was four times over the drink-drive limit.

Jailing White and imposing another five-year ban, magistrate Dr Peter Smith said: "This is the worst case we have seen. I do not remember a case which has so high a number of micrograms of alcohol as this and you clearly represent a danger to the people of Bury when you have been drinking and driving."

Prosecuting, Dr Roger Woods said a police officer in an unmarked car had spotted White as he drove along Heywood Road in Prestwich at 2.40pm.

The officer was attracted to White's Mini Metro because of a faulty suspension which left the vehicle leaning badly. He spoke to the defendant and noticed that he smelled strongly of drink. A roadside breath test proved positive.

Later White, who told the officer "I have only had one", was found to have 143 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

On behalf of White, who had pleaded guilty to drink-driving, driving while disqualified and having no insurance, it was claimed he had thought his disqualification period, which does not end until the year 2004, was over.

White was given a five-month prison sentence for drink-driving, plus a further five months to run concurrently for driving while disqualified. He was also banned from driving for five years.

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