A DRINK driver took a council vehicle from a caravan site as a “drunken jape”, magistrates heard.

James Delaney, 46, took the Peugeot Boxer while council staff were doing work at the Ruthin Road caravan park in Coedpoeth on March 9.

Justin Espie, prosecuting at Wrexham Magistrates Court, said Delaney saw the staff getting something from the rear of the vehicle, got in and drove it away.

He returned a short time later and appeared to give the impression that it had been a joke.

When he was later arrested Delaney had trouble standing up due to his level of intoxication, Mr Espie said.

He gave a breathalyser reading in custody of 122 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Delaney, who lives at the caravan site, pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without consent and to driving while over the alcohol limit.

Andrew Holliday, defending, said that Delaney had been drinking daily - which was not usual for him - after a bereavement which hit him and other relatives quite hard.

It was early in the morning, Delaney had been drinking, staff had left the engine running and he thought he would "have a bit of a laugh and a joke" with the council workers.

But it was certainly not funny, Mr Holliday added, considering the high breathalyser reading, albeit with some post-driving consumption.

He added: "I appears to have been a drunken jape that has clearly got out of hand and has, thankfully, resulted in no one being injured of any damage being caused."

Probation officer Pamela Roberts told how Delaney was reluctant to engage with alcohol treatment services, but Mr Holliday said this was because his client was not an alcoholic and would address his issues on his own.

Magistrates imposed 200 hours of unpaid work and disqualified Delaney from driving for three years.

He must also pay £85 both in prosecution costs and as a surcharge.