A HOTEL groundsman was told by a judge that he was fortunate not to have been charged with drink driving.

District judge Roger Lowe said Kevin Millington had made admissions to the police which could amount to driving with excess alcohol which carried a mandatory driving ban.

But he faced a count of being “in charge” of his vehicle in a supermarket car park while over the drink drive limit which carried a discretionary driving ban.

Millington, 42, of Leeswood, admitted being in charge of a Renault Clio in the Co-operative car park at Leeswood on October 29 and not having insurance.

He was not banned but 10 penalty points were placed on his driving licence. He was also fined £480 with £85 costs with a £30 surcharge.

The judge, sitting at North East Wales Magistrates Court at Mold, told Millington that he had been “very fortunate indeed” not to be facing a drink driving charge.

He told him: “The admissions you made to the police appear to have indicated that you may have been over the limit when you drove from Mold to Leeswood.”

But he had not been charged and that was his good fortune, said the judge.

Prosecutor Rhian Jackson said a police officer left the supermarket car park and returned a short while later to see Millington’s car had been moved within the car park.

Checks indicated the car was not insured and when he spoke to him there was a strong smell of intoxicants coming from the vehicle.

Millington said he was drinking from his third can of lager in the vehicle.

Full and empty cans were found inside the vehicle and Millington said he often left his car in the Co-op car park, had a few drinks in the vehicle and then went home to where he lived with his parents.

He was found to have an alcohol reading of 81 microgrammes, compared to the legal limit of 35.

Interviewed, he said he left work as a groundsman at Plas Hafod at Gwernymynydd, went to Wetherspoons in Mold where he had three pints, then drove to Leeswood where he drank from cans.

Millington said he would not have driven home but would have walked the 420 feet or so.

Nick Cross, defending, said his client had co-operated fully.

He had a good work record in bar management and currently worked as a hotel groundsman.

He had made “a silly decision” for which he was genuinely remorseful but a driving ban would make it extremely difficult for him to get to work, Mr Cross said.