A CAR which collided with a chevron sign ended up on top of the roundabout it was protecting.

Blackburn magistrates heard Kevin Malone ran from his car but was detained a short distance away and gave a roadside reading nearly three times the legal limit.

Malone, 58, of Queen Street, Clayton-le-Moors, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. He was fined £769 with £85 costs and £77 victim surcharge and banned from driving for 24 months.

The court heard that after being breathalysed at the roadside Malone was taken to hospital because he had been injured when his airbag deployed.

At the hospital he gave a blood sample which was two and a half times the legal limit.

Duncan Nightingale, defending, said his client was deeply ashamed and had expressed a great deal of remorse about committing the offence.

"He can't remember much about what happened after he left the pub," said Mr Nightingale.