A YOUNG motorist has been banned from driving and fined £300 for getting behind the wheel while above the legal drink drive limit.

Joshua Tiffin (22), of Valebrook, Hexham, pleaded guilty at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on May 25 to driving with excess alcohol.

The court heard Tiffin drove on Morrison Terrace, in Hexham, with 40 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitre of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

He was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £300.

He must also pay £950 in costs, and a victim surcharge of £32.