A policeman was allowed to keep his driving licence on Thursday despite admitting being almost twice the drink-drive limit when colleagues caught him behind the wheel after a works Christmas party.

A judge let police constable Andrew Pearce drive away from court after hearing he had lost his job as a result of being caught.

The 31-year-old former British Transport Police officer was found sitting in his car at a railway station with his headlights on and using the heater to clear frost from the windscreen as he prepared to drive home after a police Christmas party on December 12.

Pearce was breathalysed by officers from Hampshire Police and found to have 61 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 milligrammes.

A District Judge, sitting at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court was told that when Pearce was apprehended by officers he told them he was a British Transport policeman. They arrested him and took him to police cells.

The judge heard that Pearce, who had just finished his training as a policeman, faced a gross misconduct hearing following the offence, but resigned before the panel sat.

Prosecutor David Fosler said that Pearce had just completed training and identified himself to police as a BTP officer when he was found drunk in his vehicle in the early hours of December 13.