A Ferwig man was found to be almost four times the drink-drive limit after police were tipped off by a witness who saw him slumped over his steering wheel with the engine running.

Benjamin Howard Griffiths, 35, pleaded guilty to drink-driving on an unclassified road near Ferwig on 7 May when police found him in the car with half a bottle of wine.

Griffiths, of Lleifior, was found to have 137 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Prosecutor Ceri Ellis Jones said police were alerted by a witness at around 9pm after a member of the public saw Griffiths slumped over the steering wheel of his car and with the engine running outside a shop in Cardigan.

Ms Jones told magistrates that at first it was thought Griffiths was suffering a medical emergency, but that it was soon discovered that he was intoxicated.

However, Griffiths drove off shortly afterwards leading to police searching the area for his car.

They found him around 10 minutes later in his car which was pulled over on the side of the unclassified road.

Ms Jones said that there was a half-full bottle of wine in the car and that Griffiths was unsteady on his feet and was slurring his speech.

Griffiths admitted to police that he had drunk two bottles of wine before driving.

Defence solicitor Katy Hanson said Griffiths had never been in trouble before and that the offence had been “weighing heavily upon him”.

She said Griffiths had been feeling low after being notified that he had missed out on a job he was hoping to get and a recent break-up, and that he realised he had been drinking too much at the time.

Ms Hanson said Griffiths had spent two years in China before returning home where he had been struggling to adapt, but that the offence had been a “huge wake-up call” for him.

Griffiths was given a prison sentence of 12 weeks, suspended for a year, but will have to complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 240 hours of unpaid work.

He was banned from driving for 32 months and will pay costs totalling £200.