A driver jailed after getting behind the wheel while under the influence of drugs has been allowed his licence back.

Carl Birks was sentenced to 12 weeks in custody and banned from the road for three years following the incident in October 2014.

He was driving his Peugeot along Barnsley Road in Flockton when he lost control and collided with another car, causing extensive damage.

Paramedics passing in an ambulance stopped to see if they could help, Kirklees magistrates were told.

A motorist is breath tested
A motorist is breath tested

Prosecutor Andy Wills said: “The defendant was refusing to get out of the car, saying he wanted to go home.

“He was persuaded by the paramedics to leave the vehicle and they became suspicious that he might be under the influence of something.

“Police arrived and arrested him for driving while unfit and a urine sample showed traces of cocaine and diazepam in his system.”

The 31-year-old accepted that he’d used drugs and said he lost control on a bend after dropping a friend off.

His solicitor Ian Whiteley explained that he was entitled to apply for his driving ban to be lifted after two years of a three year ban.

Kirklees Magistrates Court, Huddersfield.

He said that his client worked as a plasterer but was having difficulty getting to and from jobs.

Mr Whiteley added: “He’s been unable to work for some time because if somebody rings up and says: ‘Can you get yourself to Leeds?’ he can't unless there’s somebody else to take him.

“He has turned his life around and has a trade but needs a licence to be able to carry out that particular trade.”

Magistrates agreed to immediately remove the disqualification meaning that Birks, of Moorland View in Rotherham, can now apply for his licence back.