FORMER Mayor of St Albans and district councillor Gordon Myland has lost his licence after he pleaded guilty in court to drink driving. Cllr Myland was stopped by police in Tippendell Lane, Park Street, at around 5pm on May 18 this year. A police office

FORMER Mayor of St Albans and district councillor Gordon Myland has lost his licence after he pleaded guilty in court to drink driving.

Cllr Myland was stopped by police in Tippendell Lane, Park Street, at around 5pm on May 18 this year.

A police officer saw him drinking from an open bottle of red wine at a nearby pub and was concerned when he drove away in a Citroen Picasso car.

Cllr Myland, Tory councillor for St Stephens Ward, was breathalysed at the scene and then taken to St Albans police station where a blood test confirmed he was slightly above the legal limit.

Central Herts Magistrates Court in St Albans sentenced Cllr Myland of Moss Side, Bricket Wood, to a nine-month driving ban and a fine of £282. He must also complete a drink-driver rehabilitation course to last 16 hours over a number of sessions.

His only comment was say thank you to the court for reducing the ban from 12 months to nine subject to his completing the course by March 2009.

Cllr Myland had a chequered year as Mayor of St Albans in 2004/05. His first notoriety occurred when he lost the mayoral chain in city-centre pub the Ice Bar but it was later returned to him.

Shortly afterwards he was reported to the Standards Board for England for making comments about a barmaid at the Alban Arena while he was hosting a charity performance of the annual pantomime.

And less than three months later he was the subject of a complaint from Verulam School when he kissed girl pupils at the annual prize-giving, describing it as a perk of the job.

The Standards Board investigated both complaints and judged that he had breached the local authority code of conduct and referred the issues back to the local standards committee which accepted that the incident with the barmaid was a breach but not the Verulam School complaint.

Cllr Myland was barred from the council until he had written an apology to the barmaid.

The school had already told him not to return.