Three men appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday on impaired driving charges including one who insisted he was not driving the vehicle at the time of his arrest.

Ian Mills, 39, of Middle Road, in Devonshire, told the court he was not the driver of a vehicle parked outside Esso City Tigermarket, in Hamilton Parish, and maintained that he only got into the driver's seat to change the radio station.

According to evidence read by Senior Crown counsel Paula Tyndale, Police saw Mills in the driver's seat of a vehicle with an alcoholic drink in his hands.

Police asked him to step out of the car and noticed his eyes were bloodshot and that he was unsteady on his feet. Mills admitted he had been drinking that night and when Police told him of the offence he was shocked.

"You must be joking I wasn't even driving," he said.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner listened to Mills' account of what happened, but maintained he was still in charge of the vehicle at the time.

Also in court for drinking and driving was Foster Douglas, 78, of Curving Avenue, Pembroke, who had almost three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system when he was arrested on Boxing Day.

Officers caught Douglas, who was driving a silver Nissan west on Trimmingham Hill, after he was seen swerving from side to side over the central yellow line and speeding up and slowing down for no apparent reason.

He showed signs of intoxication and was taken to Hamilton Police Station where a breathalyser test showed that he had 231 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Paco Fubler, of Cox's Hill, in Pembroke, also admitted to drinking and riding when he appeared in court yesterday.

The court heard how Police stopped him because of an unfastened helmet on December 12 on Reid Street, in Pembroke.

They cautioned Fubler and noticed he smelt strongly of alcohol and that his eyes were glazed over.

He was asked to get off his vehicle and Police saw that he was unsteady on his feet and had trouble putting his bike on the stand.

Fubler was cautioned about the offence, at which point he replied: "It's no point in arguing over it. I am guilty."

He was taken to Hamilton Police Station where a breathalyser test revealed Fubler had 182 mg of alcohol in his system.

All three men were banned from the Island's roads for 12 months, given a $1,000 fine and 10 demerit points.