A RAMSBOTTOM man caught drink-driving claimed his original Lincolnshire accent may have been the reason why police said he was slurring his words when he was arrested following a road accident.

However father-of-two Steven Blundy, 28, of Lime Grove, Ramsbottom, admitted he was more than twice the legal limit for alcohol. He claimed the high reading was due to drink he had had the previous night.

Blundy was banned from driving by Bury magistrates for 20 months and fined £270 with £45 court costs to pay.

Humayun Khan, prosecuting, said during the early evening of Christmas Eve Blundy was involved in a road traffic accident at Woodgate Retail Park in Bury.

When police arrived at the scene they smelled intoxicants on his breath.

A test later showed him to have 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, compared with the legal limit of 35 in 100.

A man of previous good character, Blundy told the bench he and his family were moving house within Ramsbottom and because of his employment as well he had been working up to 18 hours a day.

When he finally finished work he felt he deserved a drink and had a session in his local pub.

The following day he decided he would not drive and had just one drink because a friend was to collect his shopping but the friend rang him to say he could not do it because his own son was ill so he, the defendant, foolishly got behind the wheel of a car to do the shopping.

He said: "I really thought I was OK to drive.

"I was naive. I thought the night before's drinking was out of me and I would not be over the limit. I was wrong. I apologise."

He added: "The officer reported that my speech was slurred.

"In fact it was probably my accent allied to being nervous due to the thought of being arrested and being unable to spend Christmas with my children."