A BUILDING labourer who drank beers on a car ferry to the Isle of Wight, then was caught drink-driving in his Audi A5, had been shopped by an off-duty police officer. 

Suresh Yadav, of Shaw Drive, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, admitted drink-driving in East Cowes on September 6, when he appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court.

Police pulled Yadav over in Trinity Road after they received information from an off-duty colleague that Yadav and another man were drinking alcohol on the Red Funnel ferry from Southampton, said Liz Miller, 

Yadav, 37, and his friend were pulled over, but only Yadav failed a roadside breath test and was arrested.

At Newport Police Station, Yadav provided a breath reading of 44 microgrammes. The legal limit is 35. 

Yadav had been stopped on information received, rather than the standard of his driving, but his offending was aggravated by him driving from a ferry port with numerous cars around, Ms Miller added.

Yadav went on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Island with friends, because of a good weather forecast, said defending solicitor, Oscar Vincent.

Mr Vincent said his client and a friend had two beers on the ferry and he felt fine to drive.

Magistrates handed Yadav a £150 fine, £60 surcharge and £85 costs, with a 12-month disqualification.