A Polish trucker drove down the M20 on the wrong side of the road while he was FOUR TIMES the drink-drive limit.

Ireneusz Popielarz, 34, had downed most of a bottle of brandy before heading towards Folkestone.

But Canterbury Crown Court heard the drunken driver got onto the London-bound carriageway during rush-hour on a Friday last December.

Donna East, prosecuting, told how horrified drivers swerved to avoid the juggernaut as it continued along the motorway for at least a mile.

Police eventually stopped the lorry near Junction 9 at Ashford and found Popielarz slumped in his seat... with a near-empty bottle next to him.

The prosecutor said: "Police officers smelled alcohol and Popielarz's eyes were glazed and red and his voice was slurred."

Mrs East said the driver was so drunk he couldn't even take a roadside breath test.

Popielarz told his lawyer he had received "devastating news" his long-time lover was leaving him.

He admitted drink-driving and driving dangerously and was jailed for 18 months today.

He was also banned from driving in the UK for three years.