A BANNED driver who got behind the wheel while over the drinks limit faces missing the birth of his child after starting a four-month jail term.

Burnley magistrates yesterday heard how 'changed man' David Kelly, 28, was seen by police trying to move into the passenger seat. He was arrested and found to be almost twice the limit.

Kelly, of Nuttall Street, Burnley, admitted driving while disqualified, driving with excess alcohol and no insurance. He was also banned for three years.

Silvia Dacre, prosecuting, told the court the defendant drove across the path of a police car without giving way at a junction. Kelly eventually stopped and when an officer looked in the car he saw him trying to move into the passenger seat.

The defendant was taken to the police station where the lower of two breath tests showed 59 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath, the legal limit is 35.

John Greenwood, defending, said Kelly was now a transformed character, although the offending had not ceased altogether.