A driver who was four times over the limit while driving a 44-tonne lorry has avoided jail.

Gheorghe-daniel Cristea was handed a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he was seen almost colliding with the central reservation on the M25.

The 34-year-old, of High Street, Swanscombe, was sentenced for drink driving and dangerous driving when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Cristea was also disqualified from holding a licence for three years and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

On November 14 he was driving dangerously on the M25 between Junction 27 and 28, where witnesses saw him braking hard at the exit for the M11 junction.

Police tried to stop the driver on the Northbound M11 carriageway with blue lights and a matrix board in the rear of their car reading “follow me”, but the driver didn’t take any notice of the officers for half a mile before eventually stopping on the hard shoulder.

As officers approached the cab, they witnessed the driver slumped over the wheel and an almost empty bottle of whiskey in the rear of the cab. When they conducted a roadside test, the driver was four times over the limit.

Sergeant David Martin said: “Cristea’s actions were dangerous and part of a very bad decision that risked his and other road users’ safety.

“It was dangerous and fell far below the actions of a careful and competent driver. Anyone with four times the drink drive limit is a danger on the road, no matter how safe they think they are.

“As a priority for the Roads Policing Unit, we will continue to patrol our county’s roads, ensuring enforcement action is taken against anyone who flouts the law.”