A drink driver who was nearly three times over the limit when he crashed his car into a central reservation on Winston Churchill Avenue has been banned from driving for 20 months.

Joseph Anthony Fortuna, 53, of the South District, was also fined £738 in the Magistrates’ Court this morning, after pleading guilty to a charge of Driving with Alcohol Concentration over Limit.

The court heard that just before 10pm on Friday 19 January this year, the RGP were called to reports of a vehicle colliding with metal railings in the area of Notre Dame Lower Primary School.

It had been reported that the vehicle had a lost a wheel as a result of the collision and was still driving down Winston Churchill Avenue with only three wheels.

On police arrival, officers spotted the vehicle pulling into the petrol station and Fortuna exiting the vehicle and removing taxi badges and the car number plates from the vehicle’s exterior.

Officers noted that the vehicle’s airbag had been deployed and an ambulance was called to check Fortuna over. It was then that officers noticed that he smelt strongly of alcoholic drink.

A roadside breath test gave a reading of 119ug, meaning he was more than three times over the drink drive limit of 35ug. He was then arrested on suspicion of Driving with Alcohol Concentration over Limit.

Due to the severity of the collision, he was then taken immediately to hospital to be checked over.

A blood test was taken at Saint Bernard’s Hospital, which later confirmed he had no less than 203 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood, the maximum permitted for driving is 80 milligrams per 100ml of blood.

A spokesman for the Royal Gibraltar Police, said: “We’d like to send a clear message to drivers that they are putting themselves and others at significant risk when getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.

“We want to stress to everyone that alcohol affects everyone differently and any amount can impair someone’s ability to drive. The only safe option is to avoid alcohol completely if you’re driving - even ‘just one drink’ could put you over the limit.’

If anyone has concerns about a person drink-driving, they can call the RGP in confidence on 200 72500 or 999 in emergencies.