A BANK official who drove to get something to eat after a drinking session with friends told magistrates at Harrogate yesterday that he had known he was over the limit.

Grant Fraser Macallister, a fraud prevention officer with the Royal Bank of Scotland, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol in his blood and was fined £350 with £50 costs and banned for two years.

A car driven by Macallister, 20, of Linton Gardens, Harrogate, was said by Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, to have been involved in a minor collision with another vehicle in Raglan Street, Harrogate, at 2.30am on November 6.

Both drivers had been breathalysed, and Macallister had later given a blood sample. Analysis showed he had been almost two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit.

Macallister told the court: ''There is no excuse, really, for getting in my car when I have had so much to drink that it would take me over the limit. I failed to realise the consequences of my actions.''

He said he had been out with friends and had left his car behind. But when he returned home, he decided to drive because he wanted to get something to eat.