A drink driver overturned his car after hitting the kerb while reaching for a mobile phone, magistrates heard.

The accident happened when Lance Corporal Paul Lloyd, 26, of Dalton Barracks, Abingdon, who has been an Army driver for seven years, was driving along the A34 at Marcham.

Helen Waite, prosecuting, told Didcot Magistrates' Court police were called to where Lloyd's Renault 19 had overturned on Thursday, October 18, at 1.30am.

Lloyd told police the accident happened as he leaned over to pick up his mobile phone. A breath test showed 86 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Lloyd's solicitor Martin Bourne said the soldier, an HGV licence-holder, had not thought he was over the limit when he drove off to a service station to buy cigarettes for his friends.

"At a critical moment his mobile phone rang. Instead of going round the roundabout, he hit the side, spun and the car somersaulted," said Mr Bourne.

Lloyd was fined £375 with £55 costs and banned from driving for 20 months. The disqualification may be reduced if Lloyd undergoes a drink drive-rehabilitation course.