A MASTERS student stopped by police as he had no lights on in the early hours was surprised to see he was over the drink-drive limit, magistrates have heard.

Sean Joseph Kelly, 22, pleaded guilty to drink-driving after police officers stopped him at around 2.30am on 23 April on Aberystwyth’s Vaynor Street.

Helen Tench, prosecuting, said officers noticed Kelly driving at 2.30am without his lights on and stopped him.

Officers asked him to take a breath test, which showed he was over the limit. A later breath test at Aberystwyth Police Station showed he had 55 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Defence solicitor Iestyn Davies said Kelly, of Rosser G Hall on Aberystwyth University’s campus, had co-operated with police and the fact that he was over the drink-drive limit had “come as a complete surprise to him”.

Kelly had drunk a couple of beers earlier in the day, but Mr Davies said he did not think he would be over the limit when he chose to drive.

Magistrates banned Kelly from driving for 12 months. He was also fined £120 and will pay costs totalling £115.