THE leader of Worcestershire County Council has announced his resignation after being charged with drink driving.

Councillor Adrian Hardman will stand down from his role at the next full council meeting after being pulled over by police in Tewkesbury and failing a breath-test on Tuesday, December 22, at around 8pm.

He will appear before Cheltenham magistrates on Monday, January 18.

Cllr Hardman said: "Drink driving was a gross misjudgement on my part and I would like to apologise.

"In doing so I have fallen short of the standards that I set for myself and those that I expect from my fellow Worcestershire County councillors.

"I will therefore be standing down as leader at the next full council meeting on January 14.

"I fully support the drink driving laws.

"I will be pleading guilty in court next month and will accept the punishment that is handed to me."

His position as leader, which he has held since November 2010, takes him around the county, with its 'open for business' strategy increasingly reliant on close links with private industry.

Until last year he was also part of a small number of councillors responsible for holding police and crime commissioner Bill Longmore to account, on the police and crime panel.

Magistrates can send people to prison for six months, slap them with an unlimited fine and ban them from driving for at least a year if found guilty.

Gloucestershire Police is in the middle of its annual anti-drink drive campaign, which has been pushed heavily by councillors and last year saw 54 people arrested in just four weeks.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said: "A 59-year-old man from Bredon was charged with drink driving after he was arrested on Bredon Road, Tewkesbury at around 8pm on Tuesday December 22.

"He will appear before Cheltenham Magistrates Court on January 18."

Councillor Hardman lives in Bredon, the area he represents at County Hall.