A DRINK-DRIVER thought he was having a bad dream when he awoke to find he had smashed into another car on the M4.

But Latvian Erik Krievanns quickly discovered it was real when police arrested him.

Krievanns, 42, a lorry driver, was in Swindon for a business meeting on Saturday.

When he crashed his car on the eastbound carriageway of the M4 at Swindon he was more then two and a half times over the legal limit.

He pleaded guilty at Swindon Magistrates' Court yesterday to drink-driving.

Prosecuting, Stacey Turner, said that police were called to an accident on the motorway just after 11.30pm on Saturday.

"They noted the weather was fine, the road was dry and visibility was good," she said.

"But they came upon the two vehicles which had clearly been involved in a collision.

"Mr Krievanns' car had severe frontal damage and the other vehicle was damaged at the rear.

"They came to the conclusion that he had driven into the back of the other vehicle."

On speaking to Krievanns, police quickly realised that he was drunk.

He was arrested and a breath test showed he had 94 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Mrs Turner said: "In police interview he admitted being the driver and being responsible for the collision. He said he feel asleep when he was involved in the collision."

Krievanns, of Chatham, Kent, has been in the UK since September 2004.

Defending, Martin Guyll-Wiggins, said: "He came to Swindon to discuss a lorry.

"He doesn't know how he ended up in a car drunk.

"Rather horrifically when he first had the accident he thought he was asleep and it was a bad dream. He realised very quickly it was an accident.

"He accepts that he put others at risk and is horrified, but is struggling to understand how he came to be in that position."

Mr Guyll-Wiggins said that Krievanns was living in the UK and sending money back to his wife, their two children as well as his mother and auntie.

He added: "His wife came to London yesterday expecting him to meet her at the airport.

"His whole family will be in some state not knowing his whereabouts or what he has been up to."

The case was adjourned until Friday, April 13, to give Krievanns time to produce his driving licence and insurance documents.

He was given an interim driving ban in the meantime before he is sentenced.