A Christmas drinker who left the keys to his company car behind the bar at a Newton Abbot pub was sacked after the barmaid borrowed it and crashed it.

Barmaid Danielle Berner gave the keys to her boyfriend Steven Davie and they were joined by his friend Sam Vaughan as they took the Mitsubishi truck on a drunken joyride.

Waste company worker Jack Richards lost his job after they crashed it into as ditch on a country lane in Dartmoor and caused £11,900 damage, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Berner, aged 25, of Furze Cop, Kingsteignton; Davie, aged 22, of Applegarth Road, Newton Abbot; and Vaughan, aged 26, of Neville Road, Newton Abbot, all admitted aggravated vehicle taking.

Berner was ordered to receive 12 months’ supervision, to pay £250 compensation and was banned from driving for a year.

Davie was jailed for six months, suspended for a year, ordered to pay £500 compensation and do 180 hours’ unpaid community work. He was disqualified for 18 months.

Vaughan was jailed for four months, suspended for a year, ordered to pay £500 compensation and do 180 hours’ unpaid work, and was banned from driving for a year.

Judge Erik Salomonsen said:"The driver of the vehicle was not entitled to take it to the pub so when it was damaged he lost his job. His employers have also been affected and that means there were consequences from this offence.

"Berner, you were the barmaid and Davie was your boyfriend at the time. Vaughan was there as well and drink had been taken."

Sean Brunton, prosecuting, said Mr Richards was drinking at the Swan Inn at Newton Abbot on December 28 last year when he realised he should not drive home and left the keys to the Mitsubishi L200 behind the bar.

When the pub closed Berner took the keys and went out drinking with Davie and Vaughan before they used the car to go back to her house, where they carried on the party.

Mr Brunton said they all went off for a drive on Dartmoor where they crashed the car into a ditch. It was pulled out by a passing tow truck and they were able to get it home. Berner later sent Mr Richards a text which said:"I stole your van."

He said Vaughan and Davie both claimed the other was driving but admitted the offence on the basis that Davie had been at the wheel and Vaughan a back seat passenger.

The damage came to just under £12,000 of which the owner, Biffa, had to pay around £8,500.

Bathsheba Cassel, for Berner, said she had admitted her role and expressed her remorse from the outset. She said Berner is a single mother with a very limited income.

Martin Salloway, for Davie, and Jeffrey Segan, for Vaughan, said they both denied taking the Mitsubishi on a second trip on to Dartmoor and said they crashed it on their way back to Berner’s house.

They said both men were either in work or due to start jobs in the building trade or with a white line painting firm in the next few weeks.