A PENSIONER who drank alcohol to dull the pain of a toothache was stopped for drink driving on his way home from buying pain killers.

Philip Greenwood, 76, was on his way back home from Skipton to Bolton-by-Bowland at around midday on July 12 with his dog on the passenger seat when he was stopped by police, heard Skipton Magistrates Court on Friday.

Police had been alerted after he had been seen 'stumbling' out of Morrison's supermarket with an empty, possibly alcohol, bottle, the court was told.

Greenwood was pulled up in a lay-by on the A59 near Broughton Hall where he provided a positive roadside test, was arrested and taken to the police station.

There, he was found to have 63 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Greenwood, who admitted drink driving, had no previous convictions, the court was told.

In mitigation, Amjid Khan said Greenwood had been suffering from toothache and had been drinking to numb the pain.

"The next day he had gone to the supermarket to get some pain relief. He is a pensioner with no previous convictions. It is a shame at this stage of his life he is before the courts," said Mr Khan.

Greenwood, of Hellifield Road, Bolton-by-Bowland, was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £307. He was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £123 and costs of £85.

If he completes a drink drivers rehabilitation course, his ban will be reduced by 18 weeks.