A WAREHOUSE worker whose motorway driving was so dangerous other drivers followed him with their hazard warning lights on has avoided jail.

Daniel Grimes, of Enstone Road, Middle Barton, near Chipping Norton, was banned from driving for two years yesterday by a judge at Oxford Crown Court.

The 28-year-old was also ordered to carry out unpaid work after he admitted one count of dangerous driving on the M40 on August 24 last year. Cathy Olliver, prosecuting, said Grimes was driving from London to Bicester at about 10.30pm when he was seen driving erratically.

She said other drivers saw him changing speed and braking suddenly, swerving across all three lanes, and almost crashing into the central barrier.

Miss Olliver told Judge Ian Pringle that Grimes’s driving worried motorists so much that one called the police three times, while others followed him with their hazard warning lights on.

The prosecutor said when he was pulled over by the police he told them he had not slept for more than 24 hours and, despite taking three Pro Plus caffeine tablets, was falling asleep at the wheel.

Defending himself in court Grimes said there had not been any “fatalities” or “near misses” but admitted the car had been “a little bit off course”. He said: “I was out clubbing the night before at a festival in London. I should have gone to sleep rather than driving home.” Judge Pringle told him his driving could have caused a serious accident and sentenced him to a 12-month community order, with 120 hours of unpaid work, .

Grimes was also ordered to pay £500 costs and a £60 victims’ surcharge.