A landscaper turned heads as he drove his black Mercedes on Boxing Day - with personalised number plate and blue lights shining underneath.
But onlookers included patrolling police officers who decided to take a closer look at the vehicle at 1am, Nottingham magistrates heard.
When 39-year-old Almantas Neverauskas got out of the car, they suspected that he had been drinking, said Emma Wakefield, prosecuting.
She told the court: "He said that he had been drinking alcohol throughout the day." He failed a roadside breath test and another one at a police station.
That gave a reading of 52 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 35. He pleaded guilty to drink driving.
A one-year driving ban was ordered for Neverauskas of Balmoral Crescent, Newark. He was fined £480 with £85 prosecution costs and £48 tax.
Anna Sood, mitigating, said: "On the day in question, he had been at his boss's address for Christmas celebrations.
"He didn't feel drunk and felt he would be OK to drive. Unfortunately he was not and regretted committing this offence."
She told the court that Neverauskas is a landscaper and was the driver for his team. The work could dry up, she added.
Presiding magistrate Lyndsey Lyas, who sat with two colleagues, said they noted that he immediately admitted the offence.
"You are obviously very sorry, very remorseful," she added.
