A motorcyclist who piled into Buckden roundabout on the A1 after drinking on Christmas Eve was doubly lucky after escaping major injury in the crash and mistakenly being fined nearly £1,500 by magistrates.

Janis Vitovs, 25, was said to have been travelling at speed on the northbound carriageway when he did not spot the roundabout and collided with it while under the influence of alcohol.

Vitovs, of Northern Road, in Slough, admitted riding his Suzuki Bandit motorcycle while over the drink-drive limit on December 24 when he appeared before magistrates in Cambridge on Friday.

Magistrates initially banned him from driving for 16 months and fined him £1,448 with costs of £285 and a victim surcharge of £145.

But after he left the dock magistrates called him back and questioned whether the pay level shown on his means form was weekly or monthly - the fine being based on what they thought was his weekly wage.

When Vitovs said it was his monthly pay they reduced the fine to £330, with costs of £85 and a surcharge of £33.

Paul Brown, prosecuting, said: “He failed to negotiate the roundabout and went right into the roundabout where he collided with the keep left chevron.”

He told the court that a witness said the motorcycle had been travelling at excess speed before the collision.

Mr Brown said Vitovs failed a roadside breath which indicated a reading of double the alcohol limit and a later blood test showed 137 milligrammes of alcohol to 100 millilitres of blood. The limit for driving is 80 milligrammes.

Vitovs apologised and said it would not happen again.