A 28-year-old Bala man drove out of a hotel car park in the early hours of the morning and went the wrong way down a one way back street and was met by a police car, Dolgellau magistrates heard.

Machine operator John Emrys Davies, of Trem Afon, Frongoch, near Bala reversed back to the Plas Coch Hotel car park, bumping into a parked vehicle, crown prosecutor Tracey Williams told magistrates.

Police officers took a roadside breath test and reading was 91 micrograms, but at Caernarfon police station some two and a half hours later the reading was 82 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35 micrograms.

Last Thursday, Davies pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol at 2.45am on 7 February at Mount Street, Bala.

Ryan Rothwell, defending, told the court that his client was a highly respected machine operator and produced three character references.

“He knows that what he did was foolish and is ashamed of himself and wants to apologise. It was one foolish mistake triggered by the alcohol,” added Mr Rothwell.

He added that his client lived in a rural area where there was no public transport and would have to rely on friends to take him to his work, pantomime rehearsals and go out socially.

The defence solicitor added that his client had been told that he would not lose his job.

Court chairman Sarah Foskett told Davies: “ You were extremely lucky after driving the wrong way down a one way street and you did hit a parked vehicle,” she said.

Davies was fined £400 for drink driving with £85 prosecution costs and £40 victim surcharge and was banned from driving for 20 months.

The magistrates allowed the defendant to attend a drink drivers rehabilitation course that if completed satisfactorily would result in a reduction of five months in the driving ban.