A man from Weeley has been given a driving ban of more than four years after failing to provide a sample.

Police were called to Colchester Road on April 11 after a crash involving a Rolls-Royce Dawn which had gone into a lampost.

Two men inside the car denied being the driver, with one of them suspected to be under the influence of alcohol. He refused to provide a breath or blood sample to police.

Thomas Doran, 42, of Gutteridge Hall Lane, Weeley, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on November 13, where he pleaded not guilty to providing a sample.

On December 13 he was sentenced, where he was given a four year and two month driving ban, ordered to pay £625 costs and an £85 victim surcharge, and given a community order which included a curfew between the hours of 10pm and 6am, and a rehabilitation activity order.

A second man, 56-year-old Thomas Reynolds of Gutteridge Hall Lane, was ordered to appear before magistrates for failing to provide a specimen.

He appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on October 31 where he pleaded not guilty, and is due to stand trial on February 19.