A drink-driver who crashed on the Orwell Bridge, causing a second accident and the A14 to be closed in both directions has been banned from driving for 18 months.

Tristan Carnegie is also £12,000 out of pocket after his insurance company refused to pay for the damage to his mother’s Mercedes C250, Ipswich magistrates heard.

The 24-year-old, of The Limes, Horringer, near Bury St Edmunds, admitted drink-driving and careless driving when he appeared before the court.

The crash occurred on February 11 on the Copdock-bound carriageway at around 11.15pm.

Prosecutor Lesla Small said Carnegie had gone to an event at Trinity Park where he had consumed alcohol. As he was travelling over the Orwell Bridge his Mercedes collided with the central barrier.

One of the car’s front wheels came off and went into the opposite carriageway causing another accident on the Felixstowe-bound side of the bridge.

As a result of Carnegie’s collision the Mercedes overturned and around 40 metres of the barrier was damaged.

The Orwell Bridge was closed.

Carnegie failed a roadside breath test which showed he had 74 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

However, a substantive breath test could not be carried out until more than seven-and-a-half hours later as he was taken to hospital. A back calculation estimated Carnegie had 67mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath.

Declan Gallagher, representing Carnegie, said his client – who worked in sales and business development – had been to a work function.

Mr Gallagher said: “He was booked in to stay. There was somewhat of an argument during the course of the evening and he took the fatal decision to drive back to the west.

“He will be out of pocket to the tune of £12,000. That’s a fairly hefty consequence of this one-off scenario.”

The company which insured the Mercedes, on which Carnegie was a named driver, paid for the damage to the barrier and other cars.

However, it would not pay out for damage to the Mercedes, which belonged to Carnegie’s mother.

In addition to his ban Carnegie must pay a total of £615 in fines and costs.