A SCHOOL carpenter who drove after drinking then crashed into a house has been sacked.

Richard Price, from Gillingham, had been working for Port Regis School in Shaftesbury, Bournemouth Magistrates Court heard.

The 26-year-old was a "valued member of staff" but "as soon as they heard about it was dismissed from employment" said his defence Mark Griffin.

Price was spotted by a police officer emerging from Kingfisher Close in Gillingham, in an unlit Audi at 12.30am on March 10.

The police tried to get him to stop but Price crashed into a house at the junction with Shaftesbury Road.

Heather Jackson, prosecuting, said: "He collided with the front wall. The iron railings had been pushed over, and there was damage to the plants and small trees."

Price told police he'd had four pints of lager from 7.30pm to 11pm. It was the second time the house had been struck by a car in a month.

The owners were in the lounge at the time.

Mark Griffin, defending, said Price was "struck by the homeowner" after the crash but that his client was not making a complaint.

"Perhaps he deserved it," said Mr Griffin. "The police did not charge him with making off from the scene.

"It seems they accept that he had no choice but to leave, faced with an understandably fairly aggressive homeowner."

Price, from Wren Place, had no previous convictions and a clean driving licence.

He admitted driving without due care, failing to stop when directed, and drink driving.

He was banned from driving for 16 months and has to pay fines and costs totalling £460.