A former British Army soldier caught over the drink drive limit said he’d drunk two cans of lager while making dinner.

Kawit Yakso, 54, was spotted speeding in the outside lane on an empty A34 near the Pear Tree slip road at around 7.50pm on August 23.

A police officer tailed him and illuminated his panda car’s blue lights. Yakso did not stop, so the officer drove in front of him and brought the vehicle to a halt.

He tested positive at the roadside for alcohol and later blew 48mgs of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Appearing before Oxford Magistrates’ Court, Yakso, of Reading, admitted drink driving.

He had no previous convictions or cautions.

A security guard and originally from Nepal, Yakso had done 16 years in the British Army serving in Hong Kong and Brunei.

He had drunk two cans of lager while cooking dinner and was on his way to see family near Birmingham when he was stopped by police.

Yakso had initially not understood what the police officer was doing behind him and thought the officer was warning traffic of an issue on the road up ahead.

The magistrates fined him £346, ordered he pay £120 in costs and surcharge and banned him from the roads for a year.