A MAN who consumed 20 pints of heavy beer before falling asleep at the wheel faced Gladstone Magistrates Court on Monday.

Andrew Mclean, 41, started drinking at the Young Australian Hotel on the night of October 17.

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His bender continued into the morning of October 18, until he retreated to his car to wait for the dinner menu to take effect at the establishment.

The venue's management called police after sighting Mclean in possession of a set of car keys while leaving the venu.

At 2.47pm on October 18, police attended the carpark of the venue and observed Mclean asleep in the driver's seat with keys in the ignition of his car.

Police woke Mclean up and immediately detected the smell of alcohol on his breath.

He returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.272.

In court, where Mclean pleaded guilty to drink-driving, his solicitor said Mclean was going through a difficult period of his life at the time he was intercepted by police.

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"He is both unemployed and separated from his partner," the solicitor said.

"He did not want to walk home to Barney Point and was waiting for the dinner menu to take effect.

"He decided to head back to his car and fell asleep.

"His keys were in the ignition in order to lock his doors which is a feature of his car."

Magistrate Bevan Manthey said it was an extremely high reading but took into consideration the fact Mclean had no previous history.

Mr Manthey fined Mclean $1200 and disqualified him from driving for six months.