THE finance director of a Penryn company was behind bars this week after committing two drink-driving offences within a month of committing two others.

On one occasion, police had to use a staff to break open Peter Andrew Clarke's car window, only to find him slumped at the wheel with three times the amount of legal alcohol in his blood.

Because of the seriousness of the charges, Clarke of Shute Lane, spent Christmas and new year behind bars awaiting sentence.

On Monday, Truro magistrates told him he would serve another four months, be banned from driving for three years and have to take a test before he was allowed behind the wheel again.

For Clarke it was a disastrous end to the year. He had been about to close a deal which could involve local industries supplying parts for a new dam in Sri Lanka.

Clarke, aged 47, had originally been charged in November for a drink-drive matter and then being in charge of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in December. He had pleaded guilty to both charges.

Clarke and his partner are well-known in Penryn and at their home yesterday she refused to discuss the matter only to say what had happened was not good for the company. A sign in the window showed membership of an association of small businesses.

On Monday, CPS prosecutor Terry Eastwood described how police came across Clarke in his drunken state.

One officer first saw Clark driving in Penzance on November 25 and, suspecting he was under the influence of alcohol, followed him. When the vehicle stopped at traffic lights the officer got out to speak to him. Clarke looked at him and then drove off when the lights changed, later stopping when traffic blocked his path.

A test showed he was nearly three times the legal limit at 96 microgrammes in breath.

On December 3, police were called to a stationary car in Penzance from which loud music was coming. They found Clarke sitting inside with the engine running, clearly under the influence of alcohol. "He did not get out of the car and the officer had to draw his staff to break a window in order to gain access to him," said Mr Eastwood.

A later test showed he was three times the legal limit at 105 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

Magistrates were then told that Clarke had two previous convictions for drink-driving.

Robert Eccleston, defending, said Clarke had been to a yacht club in Penzance as part of a business deal he had been arranging. He had had a fair amount to drink.

When he went home after seeing the police he faced difficult times from his partner, who was also his business partner, about the problems his behaviour might have caused their business.

Because of this, he drank to excess again on a regular basis, going to Penzance on December 3 intending to drink and sleep in his car.

He accepted he had a problem with binge drinking and was eager for help.

Clarke, said Mr Eccleston, had been working extremely hard lately. His business of five years was involved in assisting with the arrangement of corporate and government contracts, on the corporate finance side, which involved travelling abroad.

His latest deal was due to close at the end of the week and he was absolutely desperate for this to happen. There were only about three deals a year in his work but these were very lucrative and lasted for a year.

"All the hard work is done, it is just adding the finishing touches to a scheme which will benefit the local community. It involves the building of a dam in Sri Lanka and the building of local parts in Falmouth."

Clarke and his partner were now only involved in the business sense.

After the case, Mr Eccleston confirmed that the conclusion of the business deal concerning the building of the dam was unlikely to be affected by Clarke's sentence.