THIS was the scene after a 21-year-old drunk took a double-decker bus and ploughed into railings at Canterbury’s Westgate Towers.

Lee Benbow, who had been drinking cider and smoking cannabis, took the Stagecoach bus from the garage in St Stephen’s Road and drove it down North Lane towards the Westgate Towers last Sunday night.

A witness saw him drive over the mini-roundabout and into the Westgate Grove cul-de-sac. He then reversed the bus out, backed over the roundabout and crashed into the railings.

The damage to the bus was £7,500. In the garage he had struck another bus, causing a further £7,500 damage, and the cost of the damage to the railings is £1,000.

Homeless Benbow admitted aggravated vehicle taking, drink-driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance when he appeared before Canterbury magistrates on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Richard Parkin said Benbow had boarded the bus by pressing a button to get into the door and spun a dial on the dashboard to start the engine.

"He told police officers he had drunk 30 bottles of cider and admitted to smoking cannabis," Mr Parkin said.

"When asked why he had done it, he said he just wanted to move on from Canterbury and decided upon this mode of transport to leave."

A breath test showed Benbow, who has never had a driving licence, had 69 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Mr Parkins added: "All his problems seem to be related to alcohol problems."

The court was told Benbow has previous convictions for criminal damage, drunk and disorderly and failing to turn up to court

The magistrates refused him bail and sent him to the crown court for sentencing.