A learner driver over the drink-drive limit took his girlfriend's uninsured car to get a takeaway, a court heard.

Provisional licence holder Richard Gennery, 33, took fright after being seen driving erratically by police on March 23 and tried to escape on foot, Skipton magistrates heard today.

The court was told that Gennery ran off into a house in Greenfields Gardens, Eastburn, near Keighley, where he was followed by police and originally denied driving the car.

Prosecuting, Craig Sutcliffe said Gennery eventually admitted he had taken the car without the consent of his girlfriend and was taken to Skipton Police Station, where he was found to have 75 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

The court heard that Gennery, of Caister Street, Keighley, had had an on-off relationship with his girlfriend for 10 years and between them they had three children.

In mitigation, John Mewies, said Gennery had been drinking on March 23 when he made the decision to drive to get something to eat after his girlfriend had gone to bed.

For taking a car without consent, he was given a 12 month community order with 100 hours' unpaid work in the community.

For driving over the limit, he was banned from driving for 20 months, with the option of it being reduced by five months on the successful completion of a drink-drivers rehabilitation course. For driving without insurance, he was fined £100 and ordered to pay £45 costs and £15 victims surcharge.