Arsenal starlet Chuba Akpom has been banned from driving after crashing his £60,000 Range Rover while drunk on a concoction of 'vodka and cranberry juice'.

At around 4.50am on the morning of December 17, the 22-year-old smashed a fence and furniture after losing control of his car and mounting a grass verge near his home in Barnet, North London.

Police followed the trail of destruction and gave Akpom a breath test. After it showed he was above the legal limit, Akpom was taken to police station and later charged with drink driving.

Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom has been banned from driving after admitting drink driving

He smashed a fence and furniture after losing control of his car and mounting a grass verge

The 22-year-old's father found the wreckage and reportedly feared he had been kidnapped

But no one told the player's father - who, after discovering the wreckage the following morning, feared his son had been kidnapped, the Sun claim.

The 22-year-old allayed those concerns by eventually returning home safe in a taxi. But at Willesden Magistrates Court on Monday he was fined £9,350, with £85 costs and disqualified from driving for 17 months after admitting driving the Range Rover with more than double the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

'His father woke up later and found the crashed car outside the gate with no driver and for a moment he was seriously concerned about what had happened to his son,' Akpom's lawyer Aki Achillea told the court.

'He was about to ring hospitals and the police, fearing his son, being a high-profile footballer, had been abducted so this has affected the family as well.

Apkom was driving a £60,000 Range Rover when he mounted a grass verge near his home

Akpom was out at a club in Watford when he 'stupidly' put vodka into his cranberry juice

'He has let himself down and made a dreadful mistake for a boy that has always been so disciplined.'

The 22-year-old committed the offence during a night out partying with friends in London. After the group moved from the West End to a 21st Birthday bash at a club in Watford, the striker 'stupidly agreed' to put vodka in two glasses of cranberry juice.

'His driving was erratic and he was observed by an off-duty police officer. He was parallel to a Shell petrol station and lost control, mounting the grass verge,' prosecutor Zahid Hussain told the court.

The striker has made one senior appearance for Arsene Wenger's side so far this season

'(He) left considerable debris strewn around the road,' prosecutor Zahid Hussain told the court

'He crashed into roadside furniture then drove back towards the road and into a heavy-duty fencing, knocking it down and out of the ground.

'He caused extensive damage to his Range Rover and left considerable debris strewn around the road.'

Akpom, who has made one senior appearance for Arsenal this season, has enjoyed loan spells at the likes of Coventry, Nottingham Forest and Hull in recent years.

He has been at the north London club since the age of seven and signed his first professional deal with the Gunners at the age of 17.