THE future of a chief fire officer who was banned from driving after admitting crashing into a house whilst drunk is yet to be decided.

Gary Cawley was traced by police after the number plate of his car was left behind at the scene and officers found him asleep in his own home last month.

The 52-year-old got behind the wheel and crashed into a fence on Valley Drive, Hartlepool, where he lives, causing damage to his car just before 9pm on March 24, Teesside Magistrates' Court heard on Monday.

Cawley, of CFB’s Risk Management Services, was arrested by police and found to have 60 microgrammes of alcohol in his breath – the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Speaking after the court case, the brigade's chief fire officer Ian Hayton said: "Cleveland Fire Brigade can confirm that Mr Gary Cawley, Director of Business Development was questioned by Cleveland Police on Saturday, 25 March 2017 and taken into police custody in regards to a vehicle accident in Hartlepool and an alleged criminal offence of “driving a motor vehicle with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit in contravention of Section 5(1) (a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988”.

"On Monday, April 10 Mr Cawley attended court and pleaded guilty to the offence. Mr Cawley was awarded a 16-month ban and £1,600 fine plus costs.

"The vehicle accident and the criminal offence of “driving a motor vehicle with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit” are currently subject to an internal Brigade investigation and therefore Cleveland Fire Brigade will not be commenting further."