A YOUNG drink driver is today coming to terms with a driving ban after hiding in his car to try to avoid his father seeing him in a drunken state.An anonymous caller tipped off the police that Timothy Gauntlett was driving from Ipswich to Woodbridge while drunk.

A YOUNG drink driver is today coming to terms with a driving ban after hiding in his car to try to avoid his father seeing him in a drunken state.

An anonymous caller tipped off the police that Timothy Gauntlett was driving from Ipswich to Woodbridge while drunk.

Officers found the 20-year-old sitting in his parked Renault Clio outside his house in Warwick Avenue, Woodbridge at 11.30pm on July 9.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court said: “He said he was waiting for a friend to come out of the nearby pub but then admitted he had driven the car from Ipswich town centre”.

A breath test revealed that Gauntlett had 78 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms. He pleaded guilty to driving while being two times over the drink drive limit.

Mr Davies said Gauntlett told police he was sorry he had initially lied to them but he was “scared” of his father's reaction.

Mr Davies added: “He said 'I was sitting here because I don't want my dad to see me like this'. His dad would not have been happy about the condition he was in”.

Gauntlett was fully cooperative with the police the court heard. Gauntlett told the court “It was just a silly mistake” but decided not to add more after the court clerk pointed out that drinking five pints and then driving a car could not be classed as a mistake.

Magistrates' fined Gauntlett £150 and told him to pay £70 towards court costs. He was disqualified from driving for 16 months but told if he completed a rehabilitation course for drink drivers he could be on the road again within a year.