A drink-driver abandoned his van after crashing it into a bollard and went and hid in his mother's house.

Thomas Fox smashed his white Ford Transit into the post in The Broadway, Brighton, at 5.40pm on December 28 and fled.

Officers traced him to his mother's house in nearby Wiston Road where the 37-year-old gave himself up.

He was found to have 127 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millitres of his breath - more than three times the 35 microgrammes legal limit.

He had also taken cocaine.

Fox appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court on March 11 where he pleaded guilty to drink-driving, failing to stop after an accident and possessing a Class A drug.

He was banned from driving for 36 months, given a six-month suspended sentence and a three-month curfew, ordered to pay £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Chief Inspector Phil Nicholas, of Sussex Police, said: "Fox had taken both drink and drugs so should never have been behind the wheel at all.

"He was lucky to have only crashed into a bollard - he clearly was not in control the van and could have easily hit another vehicle or a pedestrian. He could have killed someone.

"Both drink-driving and drug-driving are totally unacceptable and I would urge anyone who suspects someone is driving while over the limit to contact us urgently so that we can take action."

A total of 95 people have so far been convicted after being arrested as part of Operation Dragonfly, Sussex Police's December drink and drug-driving crackdown.