A 22-YEAR-OLD man who took his aunt's car without permission crashed into traffic lights when the windscreen steamed up, magistrates heard yesterday.

Jonathan Armitage could not locate the Vauxhall Corsa's de-mist switch after driving off in it at 1.25amto fetch his phone charger.

He wrote the car off when he hit the guard rails on traffic lights on Bradford Road, Clayton, on December 5.

Armitage, who was staying overnight at his uncle and aunt's home in Broomfield Place, Clayton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, driving without a valid licence, driving uninsured, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident.

He apologised to his aunt on Facebook, Bradford and Keighley magistrates heard.

The court heard in mitigation that Armitage set off to drive less than a mile to an address in Selborne Villas, Clayton, where he was staying at the time, to fetch the charger.

He was unfamiliar with the car and could not find the switch to clear the windscreen.

Armitage had recently returned to Bradford after working in Malta.

He was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work and £145 costs and banned from driving for 15 months.