Philip Tubbs was caught drink driving while on his way home from Ferndown Golf Club

Despite living in the same road as the £2,000-a-year Ferndown Golf Club, Philip Tubbs drove his BMW after drinking several glasses of wine in the '19th hole'.

But after driving just 500 yards - about halfway to his £800,000 mock-Tudor mansion - the 68-year-old was stopped by police and breathalysed.

Magistrates heard Dorset Police had been tipped off about suspected drink drivers at the prestigious golf club.

A police officer waited in the car park in an unmarked vehicle. He then radioed colleagues patrolling Golf Links Road in Ferndown with descriptions of possible offenders leaving the club house.

Tubbs, a retired engineer and director of a manufacturing company, was one of those stopped. He was found to be twice the drink drive limit.

Although he admitted a charge of driving while over alcohol limit, he pleaded with magistrates not to disqualify him.

He argued that, given the very short distance, he would have driven on an otherwise quiet road and was not a risk to other road users.

Tubbs also said he would have made the 10-minute walk but decided against it, because the cold weather would have brought on his asthma.

Magistrates rejected his plea and banned him for 14 months, telling him the half-mile distance he had been due to drive was too great, meaning there had been a "reasonable possibility of coming into contact with other road users".

Special Constable Robert Scott told Poole Magistrates' Court police received a call about suspected drink drivers leaving the golf club on December 1 last year. Four unmarked police cars attended.

Constable Scott was stationed in the car park and he followed Tubbs' white BMW, which he then pulled over as his colleagues stopped a Range Rover.

He said: "On getting out of the vehicle, in my opinion, he was intoxicated - slurred speech and unsteady on his feet.

"He asked why we were doing it, he seemed disappointed we had stopped him."

Tubbs had 81 micrograms of alcohol in his breath. The drink drive limit is 35mg.

Constable Scott said: "He asked if he could inform his wife as she wasn't very well and as it was round the corner it seemed appropriate.

"We took him home first. It was maybe a 10 to 15 second drive."

Tubbs, who is a director of TW Coatings Ltd, told the court he had met friends for drinks at the club about 8.30pm and had stayed for a couple of hours.

He said he played golf once or twice a week and would often meet friends for drinks in the evening when he would drive or walk if the weather permitted, but would never drive home after drinking.

Tubbs suffers from asthma and struggled to breathe when he went outside in the cold, he said.

"I was there for a couple of hours and had a couple glasses of wine," he said.

"I had arranged a lift but I felt really bad and went to the toilet. When I came out the people I was due to go home with had all gone.

"I went outside and I just couldn't breathe.

"I could not have walked home, I felt awful."

Nick Diable, mitigating, said: "This is half-a-mile, a few hundred yards.

"The officer agreed it would take maybe a minute to drive from the golf club to his home.

"[Tubbs] knows the area, it's a quiet road. He's never come before the court before, so why on this occasion would he decide to change the habit of a lifetime?

"He felt at that time he had no alternative. In hindsight he accepts it wasn't a decision he was proud of."

Tubbs was ordered to pay £488 in fines as well as being banned.

Ian Walton, Ferndown Golf Club general manager, said: "We expect our members to be responsible and to adhere to the law of the land.

"We would expect all members to take responsibility for their actions and stick within the law.

"I have been the general manager for several years now and this is the first instance of something like this here. It is an eye opener for everyone.

"It is a bit of a wake up call for everyone, particularly because it happened so close to home.

"Normally when we have functions and people our going to stay on and enjoy the evening and they organise arrangements beforehand and we have contacts with taxi companies if people need it.

"That particular night we did have a function here and all the people from the function did get a taxi home. He was not part of the function."