A motorist dubbed the 'slowest drink-driver in history' has failed in his bid to get his licence back.

Tony Ackroyd, 25, was found to be just over twice the limit after he was caught trundling along the pavement on a 4mph motorised invalid vehicle in Keighley town centre last June.

In October he was fined £200 and banned from driving for a year after being convicted by Bingley magistrates of driving the vehicle with excess alcohol and without insurance.

Ackroyd, who worked for National Mobility of Bristol, claimed he had taken the vehicle out in the early hours to give it a test drive. He said a friend, who was riding on the back, was acting as ballast to test whether the vehicle was capable of carrying 25 stones.

But at his Bingley magistrates Court appearance the prosecution said Ackroyd had been using the vehicle to get a pizza and had made no mention of 'testing' during his police interview.

Last Thursday unemployed Ackroyd, of Haincliffe Road, Keighley, challenged the magistrates' sentence when he app-eared before Bradford Crown Court. But a judge and two magistrates dismissed his appeal.

Ackroyd, who had a clean driving licence for eight years, said he valued his licence and would have reported people for drink-driving himself .

Barrister Tahir Khan said his client did not believe that the road traffic legislation applied to the invalid vehicle. "He did not believe by taking the invalid carriage he would be committing a criminal offence," he said. "The disqualification of 12 months is well out of proportion to the gravity of this offence."

Mr Khan asked Ackroyd what getting his licence back would mean. He replied: "Everything. It's my livelihood. I use it for my family and my children."

But judge Simon Grenfell said Ackroyd had wrongly believed he could drive the vehicle after drinking alcohol and was also wrong in taking the view he could drive the vehicle without risk to anybody. "He thought he was in fact getting round the legislation and he gave no sufficient thought that it might be imposed," he said.

Judge Grenfell said simple ignorance should not amount to a special reason for not imposing a disqualification.

Ackroyd was ordered to pay £150 costs.

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