A TRUCKER has been jailed after he broke a driving ban when he got behind the wheel boozed up in Basingstoke.

A driver flagged down police to alert them to Oliver Hellawell's erratic driving.

His yellow van was spotted veering all over Churchill Way after he decided to drive, following a night of heavy drinking after visiting his father.

Exeter Crown Court heard Hellawell, of Crediton, Devon, held a suspended sentence for a case of dangerous driving.

The A361, which links north and south Devon, was blocked for hours after his 43-tonne artic demolished a lamp post.

He was banned from driving at Exeter Crown Court in January but broke the order six months later while visiting his father in Basingstoke.

He was over the drink driving limit after police saw his van veering around the carriageway at 11 pm and pulled him over.

Hellawell, aged 41, of High Street, Crediton, admitted drink driving, driving while disqualified and breach of a suspended sentence.

He was jailed for a year and banned from driving for three years after his release by Judge Timothy Rose.

He told him: "You have put yourself beyond the pale by breaking the suspended sentence order and I would be failing in my public duty if I did not activate the sentence which I passed almost exactly six months to the day before this new offence.

“You were out late at night drinking. You were only four miles from your hotel and absolutely did not have to drive. You were not only disqualified but over the limit.”

The judge activated nine months of the original 15 months sentence. The discount was to acknowledge unpaid community work which Hellawell did before the lockdown and good compliance with probation.

He added three months for the new offence, making a total sentence of a year.

Miss Felicity Payne, prosecuting, said a driver in Basingstoke flagged down a police patrol to alert them to a yellow Transit which was driving erratically.

Hellawell was stopped on Churchill Way West and later gave a breath test of 58 micrograms, well above the limit of 35.

Mr Aleks Lloyd, defending, said Hellawell had not planned to drive but was with a friend who became unwell and could not carry on. He made the foolish decision to take over for the four-mile trip back to his hotel.

He said Hellawell has a drink problem which would be tackled better by an alcohol treatment requirement in the community rather than in jail.

He has received glowing references from family and friends and is currently running a newly founded valeting business.