A DRUG-DRIVER who crashed into pub railings has been banned from the road.

Burnley magistrates were told how Blake Robert Watson, 36, had both cocaine and Benzoylecgonine – the main metabolite of cocaine - in his system when his Audi A5 crashed into the railings outside the Brownhill Arms in Whalley New Road, Blackburn, on December 12, 2018.

Watson, of Rogersfield, Langho, pleaded not guilty to two counts of drug-driving but was found guilty after a trial at Burnley Magistrates' Court.

Watson was banned from driving for 18 months, ordered to pay £450 prosecution costs, a £120 and a £30 victim surcharge.

Magistrates ordered him to pay the costs and charges at a rate of £20-per-month, starting from February 20.

As reported at the time, emergency services were called to the scene at 2.10am after receiving reports that the black Audi had ploughed through some railings and hit the benches at the front of the pub.

Watson was able to get out of the Audi himself and was taken to hospital as a precaution.