A teenage motorist who left two teenage boys seriously injured in a horror smash at a pizza restaurant has failed in his bid to get his licence back early.

John Beacham was banned from the road for three years after careering through the front of Pizza Hut, by the A4 in Chippenham, on the morning of Tuesday August 9, 2005.

Pals Stephen Flexer, then aged 16, and Chris Parsons, 15, were sitting on a bench outside the restaurant when the Ford Focus sent them through the glass.

Stephen suffered fractures to his left elbow, left hip, jaw, two ribs and both front teeth as well as serious lacerations to his neck, left flank and left elbow.

He also suffered nerve damage to his left arm which now has restricted movement.

Mr Parsons suffered several lacerations, with his ear being severed as well as deep cuts to his arm, wrist and back.

On admission to hospital staff could not staunch the bleeding until the artery had been stitched and he needed two and half litres of intravenous fluid.

Beacham, who was 17 at the time of the crash and had only passed his test a few weeks before, was banned for three years when he was sentenced on June 1, 2007.

He must pass an extended test before he gets his licence back and was also told to do 200 hours of community service and pay £750 costs.

Beacham applied to a judge to get the ban, which runs until the end of May next year, reduced.

He said he had recently split with his wife and they lived on opposite sides of town making it difficult to see his eight month old daughter.

Giving evidence from the witness box he also said he was finding it hard without a licence in his job as a machine operator for The Green Recycling Group.

But Judge Douglas Field rejected the application saying he had not made the case for the ban to be reduced.

However he said the appeal was ‘not completely without merit’ and so would not compound matters by ordering him to pay the costs of the hearing.

Beacham, who was living in Warwick Close, Chippenham, at the time of his conviction, admitted a charge of dangerous driving before a jury could be sworn in on the morning of his trial.

Mr Parsons, now 19, who is a student at Cardiff University said he was delighted with the verdict.

Mr Parsons said: “I did not know that he was appealing, but I am very glad that he lost his appeal.

“I don’t think that his three year ban was long enough because I don’t think he can be trusted with a car.”

Mr Parsons, who was 15 at the time of the incident, said he would still rather walk around the town than learn to drive.

He added: “I don’t drive because it has put me off learning.

“I regularly walk from one end of Chippenham to the other, so I don’t see why he can’t too.

“Or if he is too lazy to walk, there is such a thing as a bus timetable.”