A VAN driver has been banned from getting behind the wheel after police found him swigging a bottle of beer when they stopped him.

Tibor Zsiga, 22, of Doza Gyorgy, Hungary, was disqualified from driving for 15 months after he pleaded guilty to drink driving.

Zsiga was behind the wheel of a Renault van on the M40 near Thame on Monday when he was stopped by officers who had received reports of 'bad driving'.

Officers said they found a half-empty bottle of beer and that the defendant had been drinking as he was driving.

He refused to be breathalysed and was arrested. In custody Zsiga provided a specimen of breath which contained 51 mcg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath.

The legal limit is 35mcg.

Zsiga was remanded in custody and appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

He admitted driving a motor vehicle whilst over the prescribed alcohol limit and failing to cooperate with a roadside test.

He was disqualified from driving for 15 months, fined £165, ordered to pay £85 in costs and a victim surcharge of £30.