A TEENAGED driver has been banned after he led police on a chase when they tried to stop him as he gave friends a lift after a night out in Crediton.

Billy Stone panicked because he thought he was over the drink drive limit and sped off into the Exeter University campus when he saw a police car on the outskirts of Exeter.

He sped over traffic calming humps on an unlit single track road before losing control of his black Ford Fiesta car and crashing into a bollard.

He jumped out of the driver’s seat and went to hide in undergrowth but was found by police, who breathalysed him and found he was actually well under the limit.

Stone had drunk two bottles of Desperado tequila lager with friends during a night out in Crediton in August this year before agreeing to drive them to Exeter to get a pizza.

Stone, aged 19, of Woodlands, Newton St Cyres, admitted dangerous driving and was fined £750 with £350 costs and disqualified from driving for a year and ordered to take an extended retest by Mr Recorder Mott, KC, at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: “If, heaven forbid, you had caused the death of another person you would be looking at three to five years in custody.

“Luckily for you, that night nothing happened; luckily for you the roads were not busy; luckily for you, there were no pedestrians around and it was vacation time and the campus was empty.”

Mr Thomas Faulkner, prosecuting, said a police patrol noticed Stone’s car speeding as it entered Exeter on Cowley Bridge Road and started following it, leading to Stone speeding up and heading off into Lower Argyll Road and the University campus.

There was a short chase which was captured on the dashcam of the patrol car which showed Stone driving far too fast over speed bumps on a narrow road before he crashed into a bollard and ran off.

He was found and gave a breath reading of 25 microgrammes, almost half the legal limit of 45.

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said Stone had not wanted to drive but succumbed to pressure from his friends. He then panicked because he believed mistakenly that he was over the drink drive limit.

He said he is in the final stages of a carpentry apprenticeship, has never been in trouble before, and is a decent, hard-working young man.