A TEENAGER has lost his job in the motor trade after crashing in bad weather on the M6 while drug driving.

Scott Darnborough, 19, came to the attention of police after they were alerted to a crash on the southbound carriageway of the motorway between Shap and Tebay at around 10pm on November 26.

“They found a red Fiat Punto with an ‘08’ registration off the road in the central reservation,” prosecutor Peter Bardsley told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court.

It appeared the car had crashed through 20 metres of fencing which surrounded a large grassed area between the north and southbound carriageways.

A breath test on Darnborough proved negative but he gave a positive roadside reading for cannabis. It was later discovered the proportion of a main psychoactive ingredient of the class B drug had been over the legal driving limit.

Darnborough, of Dowker Lane, Kendal, admitted a drug-driving charge in court. He had no previous convictions to his name.

“He said he was travelling south from Carlisle to Kendal with his partner in the front passenger seat in bad weather,” said Mr Bardsley of the defendant’s explanation. “There had been lots of surface water, heavy rain and his car had aqua-planed and skidded off the road, into a fence.”

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Darnborough had been working in the motor trade for the last 18 months as a mechanic in the Flookburgh area. “Unfortunately because of this incident he has hit lost his job,” said John Smith, defending.

But the teenager — who was given a 12-month driving ban for the offence — said that disqualification left him facing an uncertain employment future.

Mr Smith said: “It will have a significant impact on him; what he can offer an employer (without a licence) and also the area in which he can seek employment.”

Darnborough was also fined £120.