A West Norfolk driver nearly smashed into the back of a stationary police car while almost three times the alcohol limit, a court has heard.

Joe Hall, 22, lost control of the Audi A3 and narrowly avoided colliding with the patrol car, which had stopped at the scene of an accident on the A149 Queen Elizabeth Way in King’s Lynn.

Town magistrates heard that officers heard a large amount of tyre squealing before Hall’s car careered into the verge in the incident at 4.20am on Saturday, September 25.

“The police car had been parked in the fend-off position to offer visibility and protection to police at the scene,” said prosecutor Hannah Butler. “The defendant’s front end swerved, narrowly missing the police car.

“Officers remained 15 to 20 metres away from the car.

“The car came to a stop on the verge.”

Miss Butler told the hearing that Hall was unsteady on his feet as he got out and nearly fell over.

“His speech was slurred and there was an open can of Kopperberg cider in the car,” she added.

Hall was arrested after failing a roadside breath test and later blew 96 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

The defendant, of White Horse Drive, Dersingham, near Sandringham Estate, pleaded guilty to drink-driving and having no test certificate. He had no previous convictions.

George Sorrell, mitigating, said Hall’s parents thought the high level of alcohol was so out of character for him that they urged him to see his GP.

The court was told that the defendant suffers from gastroesophageal reflux disease and a hiatus hernia and his doctor had confirmed by letter that the combination of these could have had an effect on the reading due to “backwash”.

However, the bench said it would not make a “material difference” to the sentence.

Hall was disqualified from driving for two years, which can be cut with the completion of a drink-driver rehabilitation course.

He was also fined £900 and ordered to pay £105 costs and £90 victim surcharge.