A DISQUALIFIED driver has been warned he faces jail if he flouts another ban after being barred from the roads for three years – just six months after he was stripped of his original licence.

Mohammed Saiful Choudhury, 23, of Corporation Road, Darlington, was banned for 20 months in April for drink-driving, but was caught again by police behind the wheel of his Peugeot 406 in Park Place on October 18.

Unemployed Choudhury was also above the legal drink drive limit after he recorded 73 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard Choudhury was given 11 further points on his licence in September for using a mobile phone while driving an MG ZS in McMullen Road, in February, failing to produce his licence on demand, and allowing a friend to drive his Hyundai Accent in Park Place without a licence or insurance.

Graham Hunsley, mitigating, said Choudhury, who pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and driving above the legal alcohol limit, had made a mistake while trying to help a friend.

He said: “He had been drinking the night before and one of his friends was buying a car the following day.

“The vehicle was going for an MOT and rather foolishly he went to pick it up from the garage.

“When the police saw him, he had the sense to pull over and face the consequences.”

Chairman of the bench, Thomas Morley, warned Choudhury to think hard about his actions.

He said: “Do not go anywhere near driving a car, if you do, the next time it will be custody.”

Choudhury was banned for three years, given a 12 month community order and referred to a thinking skills programme.