A man caught on an electric scooter in Sudbury while over the drink-drive limit has been banned from the road for 12 months.

Sean McPeake, 31, was seen by police riding the e-scooter on Girling Street in the town on September 13, magistrates in Ipswich heard.

McPeake was described by officers as swerving all over the road, Lesla Small prosecuting, told the court.

Police stopped McPeake and he disclosed that he had consumed “a couple of pints”, the court heard.

He failed a roadside breath test and was found to have 55 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg in 100ml of breath.

McPeake, who has no previous convictions, was not subject to a formal police interview.

Appearing at Suffolk Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, McPeake, of Disraeli Close, London, pleaded guilty to drink driving.

E-scooters are classed as ‘powered transporters’ and meet the legal definition of a ‘motor vehicle’.

MORE: Longjia scooter stolen from outside homeMcPeake, who was not represented in court, apologised to magistrates and said he wasn’t aware of the law around e-scooters.

He told magistrates he would not be repeating the incident.

Magistrates fined McPeake £438 for drink-driving and he was also ordered to pay £145 in costs and a £44 victim surcharge.

Magistrates also banned McPeake from the road for 12 months.

It is currently illegal to use privately-owned e-scooters on public roads, pavements, in cycle lanes and in pedestrian-only areas.

E-scooters are currently classified as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs), which means they are subject to all the same legal requirements - MOT, tax, licensing and specific construction.

Although this summer the government allowed local councils to run e-scooter rental trials, where members of the public can pay to borrow a scooter.

A scheme recently launched in Norwich as part of an agreed 12-month trial with Norfolk County Council and the Department of Transport (DfT).

The Beryl e-scooters are available to hire in the Norfolk city via a mobile application to anyone with a valid UK driving licence.