A COVIDIOT drink-driver stuck in a traffic jam ran a red light and overtook queuing traffic and a steamroller at 60mph because he "couldn't be a**** waiting".

Raymond Jones, 38, broke Covid-19 restrictions by travelling to Gwent from his Gloucestershire home to celebrate his wedding anniversary.

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He told police he crossed the border into Wales because “there was nothing open in England".

Christopher Evans, prosecuting, said: “At around 8pm on Sunday, November 15, 2020 on the A48 in Chepstow, the defendant was driving a BMW car.

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“The defendant was waiting at temporary traffic lights due to road works being carried out.

“There were approximately eight to 10 cars in front of him as the traffic lights were red.

“The BMW pulled out of the queue and went through the lights and overtook a steamroller.

“He mounted a pavement to do this adjacent to residential properties.

“There were about 10 workmen working on the road and they estimated the driver’s speed to be around 60mph.”

A police officer was in the queuing traffic and he followed Jones and arrested him.

Mr Evans added: “When he was questioned, the defendant said he had drunk two glasses of Moretti beer and a glass of wine.

“He had been celebrating his wedding anniversary and had travelled to Wales because there was nothing open in England.

“The defendant said he couldn’t be a**** waiting at the traffic lights.”

Jones, of Shortwood Road, Pucklechurch, South Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drink-driving.

Cardiff Crown Court was told he had three previous convictions for three offences.

They were for theft, possessing a licence with intent to deceive and hunting a wild mammal with a dog.

Nigel Fryer, representing Jones, said: “The defendant wishes to apologise profusely for his behaviour that evening.

“It was extremely foolish and reckless. It was a moment of madness.

“Mercifully, no one was injured. His best mitigation is his guilty plea.”

He added his client was a "hard-working man" who ran a family business and cared for his "infirm mother".

The judge, Recorder Dyfed Llion Thomas, told the defendant he had breached coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

He added: “This was very, very bad driving.”

Jones was jailed for eight months, suspended for 18 months.

He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and observe a six-month curfew between 8pm and 6am.

The defendant must pay £720 prosecution costs and a £156 victim surcharge.

Jones was banned from driving for 12 months and must sit an extended re-test.