A DRIVER who crashed into parked cars when twice the drink drive limit has been banned from the roads.

Jody Beaumont, prosecuting, said police found Ryan Lee Watts’ car parked in the wrong lane of Huntington Road near the damaged cars with its lights and engine on April 17.

A test gave a reading of 169 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The legal limit is 80.

The 22-year-old, thought he was under the limit as he had stopped drinking some time before he started his journey, his solicitor John Howard said.

Watts, of Cherry Wood Crescent, Fulford, pleaded guilty to drink driving.

It was his first conviction.

He was banned from driving for 17 months, fined £300 and ordered to pay a £34 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

Mr Beaumont showed York magistrates pictures of the damage Watts caused to two parked cars and to the van he was driving.

Mr Howard said Watts had been out drinking with friends earlier in the evening.

He was in work and his employer had made arrangements to ensure his driving ban would not prevent him from continuing to work.