Police have charged a man found slumped over his steering wheel outside a Newcastle fast-food restaurant with high range drink driving offences.
Highway patrol responded to reports of a Ford Fiesta repeatedly coming close to colliding with the curb in the carpark of the McDonalds on King Street around 10am on New Years Eve.
“At the time of the offence the carpark of the McDonalds Restaurant was full, with high volume of pedestrian traffic,” officers said in a statement.
“When spoken to the driver’s speech was noticeably slurred, he was unsteady on his feet and his eyes bloodshot.”
The 50-year-old male driver allegedly blew .330 in a roadside breath test.
He was arrested and taken to Newcastle Police Station under the supervision of NSW Ambulance Paramedics, where a subsequent breath analysis allegedly recorded a reading of .297.
Checks also revealed his licence had been suspended in June on health grounds.
The driver was charged by way of Field Court Attendance Notice for High Range PCA and Drive Whilst suspended and then taken by Ambulance to hospital for the purposes of being kept under observation given the heightened risk presented by his medical condition and excessive consumption of alcohol.
He is due to appear before the Newcastle Local Court on February 8.