A SOUTHAMPTON man drank a bottle of vodka before getting behind the wheel and driving up the M3.

Robert Harrison was only stopped after he was spotted swerving across lanes on the motorway by another worried driver, a court heard.

Magistrates said they had been left “shocked” by the amount of alcohol in Harrison’s system after he was arrested.

They said his breathalyser reading was so high it was “off the scale” on their sentencing guidelines.

A road safety charity described his behaviour as “disgusting” and said it was lucky no one was killed.

The 35-year-old alcoholic, who admitted drinking a 35cl bottle of vodka almost everyday and sometimes twice that much on a bad day, pleaded guilty to driving with 170 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath at Southampton Magistrates’ Court.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - making him almost five times the drink drive limit.

Harrison, of Burlington Road, was handed an eight-week suspended sentence to last 12 months with a six month alcohol treatment order, including a 12-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

He was also disqualified from driving for 36 months and told to pay £200.

Chairing the bench David Wilson said: “A reading of 170 has taken us all by surprise, I do not think anyone here has seen anything that high.

“It goes off the scale on our sentencing guidelines and we have to protect the public.

“We are not going to send you to prison today but I must warn you how very close you were to going down.”

On December 13, between Junction 12 and Junction 13 of the M3, in Eastleigh, police pulled Harrison over after a member of the public reported a Rover ZS swerving between lanes.

When tested at the side of the road Harrison had 156 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath and by the time he reached the police station this had risen to 170.

Defending Rosemary Nand said Harrison had driven to Bristol for a job on the day of the incident but when he got there found the person who he was meant to meet him had not turned up.

Frustrated, he returned to Southampton and made the bad decision to down a big bottle of vodka before getting back in his car.

The bench were told the defendant had previously suffered from a drug addiction but after becoming clean developed an alcohol problem.

The court also heard he had been trying to rebuild his life and, recently had moved in with his girlfriend of eight months who was supportive.

She added Harrison regretted his actions and understood what could have happened and knew it was lucky no one was hurt.

Harrison said he had already got rehabilitation help and had not driven since the incident and was quite fearful of what affect custody would have on him.

After the hearing a spokeswoman for Brake, a UK-wide road safety charity, said: “It is extremely fortunate that no-one was killed by Mr Harrison’s disgusting, selfish and destructive behaviour.

“Although the eight-week suspended sentence is lenient, we commend the judge for handing Mr Harrison an alcohol treatment order, and hope that his rehabilitation is a success.”

She added drink driving was incredibly dangerous and remained one of the biggest killers on the roads and as a charity which supported road crash victims and bereaved families they see the unbearable suffering caused by people who have got behind the wheel after drinking alcohol every day.