A SILSDEN man has been banned from driving for 12 months after crashing his car on the A629 at Cononley while over the drink-drive limit.

Alexander Pinder, 26, of The Kingfishers, had met friends on the evening of November 1 and had intended to get a taxi home.

Pinder, who was not represented, told Skipton magistrates he does not know why he decided to drive instead and said he realised it was a foolish decision.

He said he was remorseful yet thankful that no other vehicles were involved.

He told the bench it was a ‘massive learning curve’.

Police had attended the scene along with paramedics but Pinder did not require hospital treatment. He failed a roadside breath test and was later found to have 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Magistrates ordered the disqualification and ordered he pay costs of £85, a fine of £285 and a surcharge of £35.

He was also offered the chance to take the drink-driving rehabilitation course which would reduce his sentence by a quarter if completed successfully.