A BUDE teenager has been banned from driving for 20 months and until he passes an extended test after crashing while over the drink-drive limit.

George Biddlecombe, 19, of Westpark Road, appeared before Bodmin magistrates on February 3 when he pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention with more than twice the legal alcohol limit in his breath.

Prosecutor Ron Butler said that Biddlecombe failed to negotiate two junctions while driving a Rover 415 too fast on an unclassified road at Stib in the early hours of September 19 last year.

He collided with a wall and other vehicles and the Rover caught fire. The fire spread to another vehicle and a considerable amount of damage was caused.

After a breath test at 8am, a back calculation showed that at the time of the accident Biddlecombe would have had around 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 35mcg.

'Not exact'

Mr Butler said that the calculation was not exact but Biddlecombe had accepted being about twice over the limit.

The court was told that Biddlecombe had previous convictions from October 2008 for careless driving and failing to stop.

Mr Woodley, mitigating, said that Biddlecombe had been out that night and was on his way to a friend's house with two passengers in the car when he lost concentration. All three had then left the scene and "no-one had been injured".

Biddlecombe had been very lucky and the incident had been "potentially very nasty" but he had learned lessons from it and had "seen its repercussions on his nearest and dearest". His parents were present in court.

The magistrates told Biddlecombe that they took drinking and driving "very seriously" and for that reason sentenced him to a six-month community order with a six-week curfew from 7pm to 7am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

His ban will be reduced by 20 weeks if he completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course.

He must also pay £100 in prosecution costs.