A HIT-and-run driver ignored the plight of five people in a car he had sent spinning across a motorway and fled from the scene drunk, a court heard yesterday.

Wayne Fieldhouse, 34, consumed six pints of beer before setting off up the A1(M), heading for his Tyneside home, prosecutor Michael Hammond told Harrogate magistrates.

When he reached Boroughbridge, his Fiat tried to overtake a Citroen 2CV carrying a man, a woman and three children, the youngest 18 months.

The Fiat clipped the rear offside of the Citroen and sent it spinning out of control to embed itself in the central crash barrier.

Fieldhouse, of Angus Crescent, North Shields, was found sitting in his car, which had a flat tyre, eight miles away. He told police he had not stopped at the scene because he was drunk.

Mr Hammond said Fieldhouse was found to be nearly three times over the drink-drive limit.

Fieldhouse pleaded guilty to drink-driving, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report it.

He was told by presiding magistrate Arthur Richards that although the innocent victims of his driving had not been hurt, he had come close to going to prison.

Instead, he was ordered to do 180 hours of community service work and pay £50 costs. He was also banned from the roads for 28 months.

In mitigation, Geoffrey Rogers said Fieldhouse, had been to Leeds to take out his seven-year-old daughter who was in her mother's custody. He had intended to stay overnight, but after drinking with friends, he decided to drive home.