A DRINK-driver who crashed his car after falling asleep at the wheel during a journey back from London has been slapped with a fine.

Sanda Mpanza called police after he drove his white Golf down an embankment on the A40 Wheatley just before 3am on February 4.

Magistrates handed the 35-year-old a £543 fine, ordering him to pay £85 costs and a £54 victim surcharge.

Officers discovered the vehicle at the side of the road, with Mpanza sitting inside, about an hour after receiving the defendant's calls of distress, prosecutor Sarah Mackay said.

He was whisked to Abingdon Police Station, where a breath test confirmed he was over the drink-drive limit, she went on to tell Oxford Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The court heard Mpanza, of Firs Meadow, Oxford, was the only one in the car when he was driving home after having drinks with colleagues and friends in London.

Scott Primer, defending, said Mpanza, who had drank about three pints, made a 'regrettable' decision to drive, falling asleep 'momentarily'.

Mpanza could not find his friend, whose house he was planning to stay the night at, deciding to drive home after meeting others for drinks, the solicitor added.

Mr Primmer added: "He made a foolish mistake on a one-off occasion."

Mpanza, who admitted drink-driving, had 54 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, exceeding the limit of 35 micrograms. He was also handed a 14-month driving ban.