A MAN who narrowly avoided crashing into another vehicle was found to be 12 times over the drug-drive limit.

Derry Dawkins, of Drayton Road in London, was convicted by Bournemouth magistrates on June 14, for driving offences on Tuesday, April 12.

He was disqualified from driving for 18 months, given a £200 fine, and ordered to pay £115 in costs for the incident on the A350 north of Sturminster Marshall.

The 46-year-old was found to be 12 times over the drug-drive limit on benzoylecgonine - a metabolite of cocaine - after crashing the car at around 2pm.

Footage released of Dawkins's movements driving the Volkswagen Beetle showed him driving down a single-lane carriageway along the Blandford Road before coming to the junction for Lytchett where a white Landrover was waiting to turn right into the road.

The Beetle is seen suddenly veering off to the right to avoid hitting the Landrover and into the opposite carriageway before swerving back into the lane, nearly hitting the left-hand verge.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "The car continued from Sturminster Marshall towards Spetisbury and the car left the road at the southbound carriageway and into a hedge. Police attended and he failed a road side drug wipe. Nobody was injured."

The footage was released by Dorset Traffic Cops on their Facebook page.

They said: "The driver of the Beetle escaped crashing into the Landrover but failed to negotiate a bend further up the road and landed in a ditch... arrested for failing a roadside drug wipe test... later charged for being 12x over the drug drive limit.

"He received 18 months disqualification and £315 in fines. Thankfully no one else was hurt but not through any decision of this driver."