A drunk driver crashed into the Prime Minister’s Checkers estate

“The strength of this evidence, together with his significantly high blood alcohol content, gave him no choice but to plead guilty to the charges we brought against him.

“Not only did Wotten cause significant damage to the Victory Gate, but he could have put other people’s lives at risk with his reckless driving.”

He was also disqualified from driving for 40 months.

“Fire engine and police car without identification marks”

Ian Longthorne, a passer-by, was visiting a friend who was showing him the entrance to the estate when he came across the accident.

“We went for a walk and stopped at a nearby pub,” said the 54-year-old.

“We saw an ambulance, a fire engine and then a police car with no license plates, but didn’t think much of it.

“We continued our walk and my friend pointed me to a public footpath that goes through Checkers where you can look back to the entrance.

“We could see the car and I took a couple of pictures from there before I left and also a few from the front entrance.

“It’s always a shock to see an accident and this was quite unusual.”