A MAN has been banned from driving for three years after getting behind the wheel of a pink toy BARBIE car when drunk.

Paul Hutton, 40, leapt into the seat of the tiny electric car which has a top speed of just 4mph when he was over the limit.

But a police patrol car spotted 6ft Mr Hutton crammed behind the steering wheel crawling along the road near his home in Jaywick, in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, and pulled him over.

Pulled ... Paul Hutton

Colchester Gazette

Mr Hutton admitted being a "complete twit" after he ended up in front of Colchester Magistrates' Court, in Essex, charged with drink-driving.

Speaking after the hearing, he said: "You have to be a contortionist to get in, and then you can't get out.

"I was very surprised to get done for drink-driving but I was a twit to say the least.

"I'm not unhappy with my punishment, just a little bit surprised."

Mr Hutton, a former RAF aeronautical engineer who now studies electrical engineering at Colchester Institute, modified the tiny car with his son Simon, 17, for a college project after finding it dumped near his home.

On the day of his arrest, he said he had jumped into the 4ft by 2ft vehicle to drive it to a friend's house to show him the results of the project.

The white mini jeep, which he could only drive with his knees tucked up under his chin, runs on 12v batteries and goes slower than a mobility scooter.

Mr Hutton was breathalysed by police and found to be over the drink-drive limit.

Appearing before magistrates last week, the dad-of-four admitted driving the toy car while drunk.

He was given a mandatory three-year ban because he had received another drink-drive ban within the past ten years.

Magistrates also gave him a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £85 court costs.