Driving ban for council's leader

Blackmore was fined £275

The leader of Leicester City Council has been banned from driving for 12 months for drink-driving.

Roger Blackmore, 62, was pulled over by police in Latchworth Road, Leicester, in June last year.

Leicester magistrates heard he was found to have 87mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, compared with the legal limit of 80mg.

Blackmore denied the charge, claiming a back-up blood sample had been rendered unusable.

However a prosecutor said Mr Blackmore was trying to escape conviction by using a "techniciality", and District Judge David Meredith agreed.

ROGER BLACKMORE - Former politics lecturer - Elected to council in 1993 - Leader of the Liberal Democrat group since 2000

As well as disqualifying him from driving for a year, the judge ordered Blackmore, of Mellor Road, Leicester, to pay a £275 fine and £225 in costs.

Blackmore admitted to the court that he had had "two or three glasses of wine" that evening but did not think he would be over the limit.

Speaking after the prosecution, Blackmore said he had to accept the judgment.

He said: "I contested this case and I have accepted that the judgment has gone against me.

"I am sure this will be a warning to both myself and others that even if you are found to be a very small fraction over the legal limit, as I was held to be, you are nevertheless subject to the full penalty of the law."