A MAN caught in charge of a Volkswagen van after a crash in a Hereford car park has escaped a ban despite being more than three times the limit, the court heard.

Colin Workman entered a guilty plea to one count of being in charge of a vehicle while over the alcohol limit when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford in January.

Police had been called to reports of a crash in the Brook Retail Park in Hereford at 5.45pm on November 28, prosecutor Eleanor Peart told the court.

Magistrates heard that the complainant had come back to her car to find there had been a crash.

Workman, who was in a Volkswagen Transporter, was suffering with leg pain and was unable to get out of the vehicle, the court was told.

He was asked for a roadside breath test by police, and taken into custody after failing to provide one at the scene.

An evidential breath test taken at the police station revealed that he had 116 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than three times the limit of 35 microgrammes.

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George Cousins, for Workman, said the 74-year-old has no previous convictions.

"On this day his wife was unwell and he was having to ferry her around to appointments," Mr Cousins said.

Mr Cousins said he would ask that magistrates dealt with the offence by way of penalty points.

Workman, who is of Dormington Drive, Hereford, was handed a £200 fine and 10 penalty points. He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £135 and an £80 victim surcharge.

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