A MAN was banned from driving for 20 months yesterday after he was caught behind the wheel after drinking up to 15 bottles of alcopops.

Owen Thomas Morris, of Newport Road, Castleton, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to driving while above the alcohol limit in Stow Hill, Newport, on March 21.

Abertillery magistrates considered yesterday whether 27-year-old Morris - who had consumed up to 15 bottles of alcopops and was around two and a half times above the legal limit - should not be subject to the automatic ban for drink driving, due to the short distance he drove.

The court heard Morris had been to a friend's house in Machen to watch a rugby match on television on March 20.

At around 9pm, after trying unsuccessfully to get a taxi, Morris said he drove to Newport with another friend, Chris Wood, and parked outside the Basement Club in Stow Hill. When they left the club at around 2am, he said he became aware there were no other cars in the parking bay where he had left his Toyota Hilux.

Worried about getting a parking ticket, he decided to move it to another bay '50 paces away' before going to find a taxi home.

"It was a spur of the moment thing that I regret," he said.

PC Tyrone Bourke told the court that during the manoeuvre to park the Toyota, Morris had almost reversed into his police vehicle, forcing him to reverse urgently.

Morris failed to provide a breath test when asked by PC Bourke - saying in court he had been nervous - and was arrested. A later test showed that he was over the legal limit.

Martin Brown, defending, said: "He is a young man who regrets making that decision at 2.30am that morning. "He accepts this was a very foolish decision taken in drink."

Morris was banned for 20 months but if he successfully undertakes a driving course by August 2005, the ban will be reduced by five months. He was also fined £350 and ordered to pay £70 costs.