A first year Bristol University student who drove his Mini around the grounds of Wills Hall before crashing it at the bottom of some steps was today banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay £165.

He had driven his second-hand Mini, worth £4000, to Bristol from London that day and in the evening, went by taxi to Clifton where he drank cider with friends.

He returned to his halls in Stokes Bishop by taxi, but was worried that his car may be clamped, so in a fit of "youthful exuberance" he decided to park it in the hall grounds, driving along footpaths as he did not know his way.

Alex Fiallos, described by his solicitor as an "exceptional student" with three As at A-level, appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court with his parents.

His solicitor Daniel Berman said: “He did not know what he was doing. He did not take a coherent route and found himself at the foot of some steps just round the corner from where he had parked the car.

“This was a lack of judgement by a man with an excellent background and character.

“He immediately admitted upon the arrival of the police that he was the person who was driving the car. I do not wish to excuse his conduct and neither do either of his parents wish for any excuse to be made.”

When tested by police, Fiallos was found to have 48 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Mr Berman said: “This was an aberration by a young man who will hopefully go on to far better things.”

Wills Hall, where Fiallos has lived for only two months, has a reputation among Bristol University students as the most exclusive halls of residence at the university.

Weekly term-time rent in a single en-suite room costs £152, making it also the most expensive.

Magistrate Peter Lewis told Fiallos, a keen tennis and footballer and a Red Cross volunteer, that he was fortunate the police had not charged him with anything more than drink driving.

Mr Lewis said: “You are lucky that no-one got seriously hurt by what you did.”

Mr Lewis fined Fiallos £100 for drink-driving and ordered him to pay costs of £50 and a victim surcharge of £15.

He also disqualified Fiallos from driving for a year.

Bristol University refused to say what punishment they will be handing Fiallos, saying that what the young student did was an internal matter.

Barry Taylor, director of communications and marketing at Bristol University said: “The University will take whatever action is appropriate to punish dangerous and disorderly behaviour and to safeguard people, property and reputation.”