A HOTEL worker moved a friend’s car out of a disabled parking space while double the legal alcohol limit and not being covered for insurance, Selkirk Sheriff Court has been told.

Twenty-seven-year-old Chris Curran, who gave an address in Polbeth but works at the Cardrona Hotel, pleaded guilty to driving with a breath alcohol count of 44 microgrammes – the legal limit being 22 – at St Michaels Bank in Peebles on October 26.

Prosecutor Fiona Hamilton said police were on mobile patrol when they came across the vehicle parked in a diagonal position.

She added they spoke to Curran and detained him after realising he had been drinking.

He was also not insured to drive the vehicle.

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said his client had attended a works night out in Peebles and was supposed to stay at a friend’s house.

He saw his friend had parked in a disabled space and decided to move it the short distance to a non-disabled space.

Sheriff Peter Anderson told Curran the sensible solution would have been to wait until the morning before moving the vehicle.

He fined him £400 for drink driving and £200 for the insurance offence with a £40 victim surcharge.

Curran was banned from driving for 12 months.