A 21-YEAR-OLD driver was twice the legal limit when he crashed his car into a drystone wall near Gargrave, Skipton magistrates heard.

A back calculation was carried out on Mason Cowgill, who was taken to hospital following the accident at just after midnight on an unclassified road near Flasby Hall in Flasby.

He was banned from driving for 20 months and ordered to pay fines and costs of £565.

Cowgill, of Mickle Hill Mews in Gargrave, had got out of the overturned car and was found at his nearby home by police officers, the court heard.

He provided a positive roadside breath test before being taken to hospital to be treated for injuries.

A blood sample was taken more than five hours later. A forensic scientist worked out the level of alcohol in his blood when Cowgill was driving would have been between 106 and 217 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres, and was most likely to be 161 – the legal limit is 80.

Cowgill, who admitted drink-driving on April 24, was a man of previous good character, who had co-operated with police and confirmed he had not drunk alcohol following the accident.

He had also repaired the drystone wall, the court was told.

He was fined £300 and ordered to pay criminal court costs of £150, prosecution costs of £85 and surcharge of £30. If he completes a drink-drivers rehabilitation course before August 27 next year, his ban will be reduced by 20 weeks.