A traffic management worker has lost his job for crashing down an embankment after drinking.
Nicholas Baxter lost control of his Volkswagen Scirocco after downing a mix of alcohol and sleeping tablets the night before.
When police arrested the 34-year-old at the scene of the smash he told them: “If this gets out I’ve got no job.”
Kirklees magistrates were told that his drink-driving conviction means that he will no longer be able to continue his role putting up temporary roadwork signs.
Prosecutor Andy Wills said that the accident occurred shortly before 10am on September 7.
Baxter was driving along Penistone Road in Shelley his vehicle left the road and ended up down an embankment.
Both airbags were deployed and a man working on a property nearby heard the loud bang and came to his aid.
Mr Wills said: “He went and saw the vehicle down the embankment and there was smoke coming from the vehicle.
“There were a number of packets of prescription drugs inside and as he helped the defendant from the vehicle he could smell some stale alcohol on him.”
Police and an ambulance were called and Baxter tried to leave the scene although officers got there first.
He failed a breath test and told police: “If anything like this gets out I’ve got no job.
“I hold my hand up mate, I’ve done something stupid.”
Magistrates were told that Baxter, of Huddersfield Road in Shelley, had drunk a considerable amount of alcohol the night before.
He’d also taken two diazepam tablets, a form of sleeping pill, which may have also had an effect on him, Mr Wills said.
Magistrates were told that Baxter got up the next morning to drive the gym but lost control of his vehicle and ended up damaging the front wheels.
He was taken to hospital as a precaution and further breath tests showed that he had 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
Magistrates were told that Baxter’s job requires him to have a full licence and so he has been forced to leave that role.
He now plans to apply for benefits to tide him over while he looks for new work.
Magistrates banned him from driving for 14 months.
He will have to pay £140 fine, £85 costs and £30 victim surcharge.
