TWO men have been given a driving ban and a curfew for crashing a stolen Mercedes after a night out.

Oliver Dennis, 23, and Charlie Saint, 21, stole the car from a man they met out clubbing in Eastbourne.

The victim left Cameo nightclub in the early hours of September 14 last year and started chatting to the pair. He invited them back to his flat in Sovereign Harbour for some drinks, and they stayed up past dawn.

When the victim went to sleep, he asked the two men to let themselves out. But as they left, they took the keys to his Mercedes, worth more than £25,000, and drove off.

Dennis lost control of the car and crashed into a pillar. The men abandoned the car, which had to be written off.

Sussex Police seized CCTV of the crash and found Saint’s provisional driving licence inside the car.

At Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday, both men pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, Dennis as the driver and Saint as a passenger.

They were given a nine-month suspended sentence. They were disqualified from driving for 18 months and given a 9pm to 5am curfew for four months.

Both were ordered to do community service. Dennis, from St Leonards Road in Eastbourne, was given 110 hours, and Saint, from Jevington Gardens, Eastbourne, was given 80. They were each told to pay a £149 surcharge and £400 in compensation.