A sitting member of Peterborough City Council has been banned from driving for more than four years and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to drink driving – after residents said he was ‘barely able to walk’ when he went to pick up a curry.

Peter Reeve appeared before Peterborough Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning (September 22) charged with driving a motor vehicle when above the legal alcohol limit.

He pleaded guilty to the offences after providing a breath test to police of 116 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Reeve was elected onto Peterborough City Council as Reform Party councillor for the Stanground South ward in May 2026. He was suspended by the party and now sits as an independent after he first appeared in court charged with the offences on August 14.

The incident for which he was charged took place in Ramsey on July 26.

The court heard how he initially had parked his Ford Mondeo outside of The Angel pub after driving down High Street in Ramsey before walking into The Bengal restaurant to collect a curry.

On his way out, Reeve was stopped by members of the public after they spotted him looking intoxicated. The group later told police that they observed him being "barely able to walk."

He then walked away when police were called.

Police arrived at around 9:30pm and Reeve told them that he had planned to leave on foot. Officers reported him to be "unsteady," "slurring his words," and "smelling of liquor."

When he refused to provide a sample at the roadside he was arrested.

The court heard that Reeve had a relevant previous conviction dating back to September 2023 of failing to provide a specimen of breath when lawfully required by police.

His solicitor Natasha Anderson told the court that she admitted “poor decision making on his part” following the passing of his mother.

The court heard that Reeve had spent the day at his mother’s house, with his brother, sorting through her belongings. The court was told that Reeve admitted to consuming alcohol but that he went to sleep and awoke saying that he felt fine and did not feel over the limit.

He began his journey to the restaurant at 9pm and was captured on CCTV cameras driving down High Street in Ramsey.

Magistrate Dr David Wilkinson sentenced Reeve to a 12-month community order during which he must complete 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also issued a 50-month driving ban, which will run until November 2030, He was not offered a chance to reduce this ban due to the fact he previously completed a driving course following his 2023 conviction.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and prosecution costs of £85.

Sentencing, Dr Wilkinson said: “This was a very high reading, you were seriously intoxicated. This reading was lower than it would have been at the roadside as well so is below the custody band. It may well have been above the custody band at the roadside.

"We understand that it is difficult with grief and for that you have our sympathies but this was a very dangerous thing to do. Fortunately, nothing happened.

“Alcohol doesn’t solve problems, it creates them.”

Reeve remains in his seat on the council, as council rules say that a councillor can only be removed from their role if they received a prison sentence of three or more months (either suspended or immediate).