A DRINK driver ran off from the scene of a crash and tried to convince police his car had been stolen, York Magistrates Court heard.

Thomas Harrison Shepherd, 25, said he got behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta because he "hadn't been out in the car for a few days",

"I didn't feel anything like as drunk as I clearly was," he said.

Sabera Ali, prosecuting, said Shepherd was nearly twice the drink driving limit.

He crashed the car into an electricity pylon and a member of the public saw him running off.

Shepherd also phoned police to tell them the car had been stolen.

But when they went to the home of the car's registered keeper, Shepherd was there and admitted he had been the driver.

Shepherd, of Grazier Close, Thorpe Willoughby, pleaded guilty to drink driving on York Road, Barlby on February 13.

He was fined £250 and ordered to pay a £32 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

He was banned from driving for 16 months.

He said his decision to drive was a "complete lack of judgement".

In the run-up to the crash, he heard a noise he hadn't heard before, so took the car down a quiet road.

"That is where I lost control," he said, adding the ban would probably cost him his job.

District judge Adrian Lower told Shepherd: "Like many young men, you have made a colossal mistake and you have been more stupid than most.

"You wanted to try out the car, even though you knew you had been drinking. You could easily have left that to another day.".

Ms Ali said Shepherd crashed the car at about 11pm.

His breath test reading was 68 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35.