A DRUNKEN driver who left two smashed cars and injured passengers in his wake while almost five times the limit, escaped a jail sentence.

Thomas Jonathon, 52, had been "an accident waiting to happen" according to one worried motorist who had alerted the police.

Burnley Crown Court heard that Jonathan had difficulty standing up and walking and had to be helped out of a police van. He was later found to have 164 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 mililitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

The defendant, who denies he has a drink problem, was told by a judge his case was just about as serious a case of bad driving the court would hear.

Recorder Timothy Ryder said by rights Jonathon should be jailed both as a punishment and to indicate to others such behaviour on the roads would not be tolerated.

But, the judge said the defendant had no previous convictions, had a "wholly unblemished driving record," and was sorry for what he had done. Little benefit would be gained in the long term by sending him to custody.

Jonathon, of Peel Street, Haslingden, was given 150 hours' community punishment and banned for five years. He admitted dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol and failing to stop.

John O'Shea, prosecuting, said the defendant was followed by a concerned motorist, who had thought his driving was erratic and had seen him weaving about in the road. The defendant hit the back of a car and the witness became even more worried as he approached a school as home time neared.

Roger Baldwin, defending, said Jonathon, who had been driving for 30 years without so much as a point on his licence had no previous convictions of any kind.

He looked after his mother and uncle and had led a blameless life and had no wish to drive again.