A TRAWLERMAN accused of sparking a £50,000 emergency by taking to the sea in a drunken state has walked free from court.

Peter Grylls was cleared of two charges on the direction of a judge after two prosecution witnesses failed to turn up to give evidence against him.

Mr Grylls, 43, last night told of his relief and criticised the decision to take the matter to court, saying: "I was only out to do a day's work."

Four lifeboats, two RAF helicopters, a police marine launch and a police spotter plane were drafted in after witnesses accused Mr Grylls of taking out the 30ft fishing boat Amanda after a day's drinking.

It was alleged he collided with four other vessels on his way out of port. It took seven hours before the officers from the police launch were able to board the boat three miles off the coast of Hartlepool, at 4am, on March 21 last year.

Mr Grylls had been accused of drunkenness on duty and conduct which endangered ships, structures or individuals, but denied both accusations and was yesterday formally found not guilty.

He said afterwards: "I'm over the moon. But it should have never got to court in the first place.

"The whole thing has left me baffled and put me under a lot of strain, but I'm glad it's all over.

"All I was doing was going to work that night. I hadn't been drinking and I didn't cause any damage.

"We all appreciate the hard job lifeboat crews have, and questions need to be asked about the expense the rescue services went to for this."

The RNLI would not comment on the case last night, but the Coastguard said: "We just hope lessons have been learned."

PC Jim Bone, of the Tees Harbour Police, which brought the case, said: "It's disheartening, but we have to accept what the judge has done because two key prosecution witnesses did not attend court.

"We will deal with things in exactly the same way we did in this case should something similar happen, but let's hope it doesn't."

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "On this occasion, two key witnesses failed to attend court to give evidence.

"In light of this, the CPS decided that there was insufficient evidence to provide the realistic prospect of prosecution."

A spokesman for the company that owns Amanda said: "This matter should have been sorted out between the insurers - not in court."

A fellow fisherman said: "Peter was out at sea working. When the police got aboard, he had his trawling gear over and he was doing what he has done all his life - fish.

"He had gone to sea as he usually did, and it was people on shore who caused all this."

Mr Grylls, of St Helen's Street, Hartlepool, added: "I've had to get a career outside of fishing after this.

"I have had to gain people's loyalty and trust. Finally, I've got a job offshore."