LONDON, England - May 26, 2010 - Riding home on his mobility scooter at less than 4 mph, Eamonn Donohoe wasn't going anywhere in a hurry and didn't appear to be a menace to pedestrians.

But when the drunken Irishman ignored a policeman's attempt to flag him down, the local constabulary decided to take no chances.

As Donohoe, 62, was trundling along the pavement near his sheltered bungalow, he found himself surrounded by eight police officers and three marked vehicles.

One patrol car mounted the kerb to block his way and after failing a roadside breath test the disabled grandfather was locked in police cells for 12 hours, fingerprinted, photographed and had a DNA swab taken.

Donohoe, who had drunk six or seven pints during an evening playing dominoes with friends at a local club, was three times over the limit.

He later admitted driving a mechanically propelled vehicle whilst over the limit on April 20 and was given a three year driving ban by magistrates at Chesterfield.

However, despite the nature of the offence he is legally free to continue riding his scooter.

But the bizarre episode has left the retired construction worker from Old Whittington, Chesterfield, feeling disillusioned with the forces of law and order.

He said, “I can’t believe how they treated me - anybody would think that I was a bank robber or a member of Al-Qaeda. The police are always saying they’re short of resources, and then go and employ eight officers arresting someone like me. It’s completely mad, and a total waste of public money.

“When someone broke into my home and stole my TV and my video two years ago the police didn’t turn up for three days, and yet they can drop everything for something as daft as this. There’s no wonder the police get it in the neck.

“They must have known, like I did, that the rules of the road don’t apply when you’re riding a mobility scooter down the pavement at three and a half miles an hour, but it didn’t seem to matter one jot.

“I didn’t stop at first because I wanted to get home, and I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Then a police car turned up all of a sudden, and pulled up right across the footpath stopping me dead.

“A police van pulled alongside me, and another car parked up on the road behind me so I couldn’t turn round. It was just like something out of a film.

“There were eight police officers there altogether, and one of them grabbed the keys from the scooter, and said: ‘Come on - get off that!’

“When they asked me to do breath test I said, ‘Don’t be stupid, I’m an old aged pensioner on a mobility scooter – I’m not blowing into anything,’ but they insisted so I had to in the end. They actually wanted to put me in handcuffs, but they stopped short of doing it in the end.”

Donohoe, who is handicapped with blocked arteries in his legs, and can only walk a few yards unaided, intends to carry on riding backwards and forwards to see his friends to play dominoes at his local club once a week.

The divorcee, who has three children and ten grandchildren, added - said, “It’s not as if I’m going down the pavement swerving from side to side, and putting people at risk. I’m not a danger to anyone.”

A Derbyshire Police spokeswoman said, “He failed a breath test when he was stoppped, and was charged with driving a mechanically propelled vehicle while over the limit. We cannot comment on how many officers dealt with the incident, but a person driving any kind of vehicle when they're drunk are a danger to themselves and other people as well.”