A DRINK-driver was banned for crashing while driving to buy cigarettes after a night out.

Craig Lee, aged 31, of Halliwell Road, Bolton, admitted driving his Ford Focus into a wall in Radcliffe Road, Darcy Lever, on November 23, 2013, while more than two times over the limit.

He had returned to his home with his partner by train from a night out in Manchester, Bolton Magistrates Court was told, before the crash.

Police found Lee had 86mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath — two-and-a-half times the legal limit — at the time of the incident.

The civil engineer appealed to magistrates on February 10 to limit his driving ban to a year so he could keep his job as a site manager.

Magistrates gave him a 14-month driving ban, which will be cut to 106 days if he completes a driving course approved by the government.

Lee was also fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £140.