A TEENAGE drink driver who righted his car after it overturned in a crash before he was involved in a second collision has been banned from the roads for 18 months.

Luke Joseph Harrison, 18, pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle when his alcohol level was above the limit when he appeared at Weymouth Magistrates Court.

The court heard that on December 23 last year, Harrison was involved in a collision at around 1am on a road near Shaftesbury when his car ended up on its roof.

Elizabeth Valera, prosecuting, said Harrison managed to get the car back on its wheels and carried on driving – when he later skidded off into a hedge.

It happened on the A350 at Littledown, just north of Shaftesbury.

A member of the public saw the second crash and held him at the side of the road until police officers arrived.

A roadside test showed Harrison had 65 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, nearly twice the legal limit of 35 micrograms.

The court heard that in a statement from the night of the incident, Harrison said he thought he was in Blandford and had spent two hours trying to get home to Wimborne.

He also claimed that he had only had one pint and that his “parents would kill him” for crashing their car.

Harrison, of Victoria Road, Wimborne, who was not represented in court, admitted he had ‘had a few drinks’ with his friends after Christmas shopping, and ‘really regrets’ driving while over the limit.

He was caught during Dorset Police’s Christmas drink and drug driving campaign last year.

Dorset Police carried out more than 400 breath tests between December 1 and January 1.

A total 53 people were charged with drink-driving offences across the county

He was disqualified from driving for 18 months. He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.